Harry Potter and the Seven Kingdoms
by Ferz
Summary: As they come back from the execution of a deserter, Eddard Stark and his party find a dead stag lying in the snow. Near it is a dead She Direwolf, seven pups and a sleeping dark haired young wizard who just appeared in this world. MoD Harry Absolutely non graphic slash
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer****: I sadly own neither Harry Potter, books or movies, nor A song of Ice and fire, books or series. That being said, I do own my story, for what it's worth XP**

**By the way, english is not my first language, so if you see mistakes, feel free to tell me about them, I won't take it badly, and I would much rather write correctly than have only nice reviews!**

"common tongue"

**"High Valyrian - english"**

**Chapter 1:**

\- "Father! Look! " It was Bran, one of the pups Ned had just accepted to let him keep in his arms, pointing behind them all, three meters from the she direwolf's corpse. They all turned, wary for a threat, even though the boy's voice had not sounded apprehensive at all. Theon spoke first.

\- "Get away, Bran, it could be a wildling."

\- "But…"

\- "Theon is right, Bran, come back here", Ned said, walking towards the fallen man in the snow. The first thing he noticed was that this was definitely not a wildling. The boy, for he couldn't be older than Robb, surely, was too finely clothed. He wore strange garments the kind of which Ned had never seen, but they were laced with silver and fitted him perfectly.

\- "He is still alive", said Ned after touching his throat. The boy was not even colder than they were, even though he must have been lying there for at least a day, judging by the snow covering him. Ned tried to wake him without any success and turned to his men. "Help me carry him to the road," Ned said. "We shall bring him to Winterfell to be seen to by Maester Luwin. Wyl, Desmond, check around for traces of a horse, but do not go too far".

Ned and Jory picked the boy up, and behind them Robb picked up a pouch from the ground. It seemed empty but he pocketed it none the less. It was extremely strange to find this boy here, without a ride, an escort or anyone else, and a mere meters from the direwolf, too, anything could help resolve this mystery. The boy had not awoken, and so could not ride a horse. However he was lightly built and Ned tied him up his horse without any problem. Desmond and Wyl came back.

\- "We've not found anything, my Lord, "said Desmond.

\- "No traces, nothin'" said Wyl. Ned nodded. In this snow, it was not that surprising, but he would have preferred to have some kind of explanation for this. First the dead stag, then the direwolf and the pups (3 males and two females, gods!) and then the boy. As they rode away Jon suddenly stopped his horse, went back and got back on the ground, searching through the trees, listening to something.

\- "What is it, Jon?" Robb asked.

\- "Can't you hear it? It… oh!" Ned heard Jon say. He looked at where his son stood, hoping he wouldn't have to face yet another surprise. But Jon was coming out, now, and in his arms were two pups. They both had open eyes.

\- "This one is yours, Snow", Theon said, looking at the white one. "The rut of the litter." For a second, Ned saw that as a good omen. There were more direwolves than he had children, now, with this last one. But suddenly the pup Jon had not claimed jumped from his arms, with more strength than Ned could have imagined for a creature that age and size. He ran, but not towards the forest as Ned would have thought, but towards them. The horses wined but stayed put, and the black little beast arrived to Ned's horse. Instead of stopping there, it jumped, and arrived on top of the boy they had found and licked his hand. There was a silence.

\- "Well, apparently this one has chosen its master" said Jory Cassel with a strained voice. Ned didn't say anything more on the matter, but on the road he heard his men muttering about signs and omens. He called for Maester Luwyn as soon as they stepped foot into the castle. The old man appeared a few minutes later into the room Ned had brought the boy to. The black pup had stayed there stubbornly, licking the boy's hand from time to time.

\- "You say he was in the snow for a day, My Lord?"

\- "Yes. He was covered by snow, and we would probably have missed his presence were it not for Bran." - "Ah, that is most peculiar", the Maester said, examining the sleeping boy. No, Ned didn't need any more peculiar things to happen today. But he had to ask none the less.

\- "What is?"

\- "He appears to be sleeping. As we cannot make him up we must assume that he has been drugged, although for what purpose I cannot imagine. He is not injured and has no fever. We must wait. Depending on what drug he was fed, he should wake up some time today or tomorrow."

\- "Do you have any idea who he could be? I have spent the entire ride back wondering. He is obviously highborn, or at least from a wealthy family, but from where?"

\- "I cannot say, My Lord. I would imagine that we would recognize him if he was from the North."

A knock on his door woke Ned Stark up from his thoughts. It was a serving boy, the one called Oli, or something of the sort, telling him that the boy he had brought had woken up. Old Nan had been looking after him as he slept, but he had asked to be told the moment the boy was awake. He went to the room, and met on his way with Maester Luwin, that he had not sent for.

\- "How is it that you knew so quickly, Luwin?" Ned asked, amused.

\- "For once it is not of my doing, My Lord." The Maester answered. "Apparently, Old Nan saw fit to ask me to come as well." Ned raised an eyebrow but said nothing. They entered the room together. The boy had woken up all right. He had apparently jumped from his bed and stood as far from the door as he could, watching them with extreme suspicion, his pup growling at them.

\- "The boy does not seem to speak the common tongue, My Lord." Old Nan said as she left the room. Ned raised an eyebrow. He didn't speak the common tongue? How was that even possible? He was certainly too pale to come from anywhere but Westeros or the Lands beyond the Wall.

\- "Do you understand what I am saying, boy?" Ned asked, to make sure. The boy immediately turned to him when he spoke, so he was not deaf. But he frowned, and said something.

\- "**I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are saying. Can you understand me? Where am I?" **For a second, Ned was sure he had heard that tongue before. To his right, his Maester spoke.

\- "**I understand you, child. Can you tell me your name?**" Then Luwin turned to his Lord. "My Lord, he speaks High Valyrian. I asked him his name." Ned nodded while the boy answered.

\- "**I am Harry Potter. Why does he have a sword?"** The boy said, pointing at Ned's right hip. Now that he knew which language the boy was speaking, the Lord could understand some of what he was saying.

\- "**My Lord, he says he…" **

\- "Yes, I understand High Valyrian but can not speak it. Why would he ask such a question?"

\- "He probably comes from a culture where swords are not the norm, or not at all carried by men, by the looks of it, although I do not know such a culture."

\- "**Where am I? And who are you?**" The boy asked, interrupting them. Normally Ned would not have tolerated such conduct, but as it was, this Harry appeared terrified.

\- "**You are in Winterfell, this is Lord Eddard Stark and I am Maester Luwin**" The boy frowned again.

\- "**What is Winterfell**?" he asked.

\- "**It is the main city of the North, in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros**." Said Maester Luwin. For a second, the boy frowned again, as if that didn't make any sense to him. But then his eyes grew suddenly wide and he breathed, looking at them as is he was seing ghosts.

\- "**Oh, I remember now**" he said. "**Did you find me asleep**?"

\- "**Lord Stark found you**", the Maester said. "**Asleep, yes. Do you know how you ended up there**?" Ned smiled a bit. Yes, clever of Luwin not to say where, exactly, the boy had been found. This way he could not lie about knowing if he did not.

\- "**I… uh… Well… Thank you very much for… uh… finding me, and… well… I must go, now, you know, things to do…**" Ned chuckled. This boy was the worse liar he had ever encountered.

\- "**Lord Stark is the ruler of the North and you will certainly not go as long as you lie to him**." Luwin said. The boy, Harry, Ned reminded himself, looked at them both.

\- "**Did you find a pouch, with me**?" Ned remembered Robb pocketing it and nodded. "**I will tell you if you give it back to me**." Ned had thought it was empty; at least it had appeared so. He would check it for weapons and give it back. Starks were not common thieves. He opened the door to summon a servant, but found Robb, Jon and Arya waiting there instead. Ned frowned but decided against a lecture. Instead he turned to Robb.

\- "Do you have the pouch you picked up this afternoon?"

\- "Yes, Father" Robb said, taking it from his belt. It was small, black, unadorned and empty. Ned could not fathom why the boy would want it.

\- "Father, is it true that you found a wilding in the forest and brought him back because the direwolf pup liked him?" Arya asked, almost jumping up and down.

\- "He is not a wilding, Arya. Now, leave. Maybe you will meet him when he is rested." When he went back in the room the boy was less tense, but his eyes were fixed on the pouch in his hands as if it contained the best wine in the world and he was dying from thirst.

\- "**You will tell what we want after give this**." Ned said with his best High Valyrian. The boy nodded solemnly. Ned walked towards him but the pup between them started to growl. The boy put a hand to the baby direwolf's head and the pup immediately calmed. Ned would have understood it if they had been together for a long time, but it seemed extremely strange after they had just met. Not wanting to be bitten by the little wolf, he sent the pouch flying. The boy caught it with a speed Ned could not have believed. One second he was crouching on his bed, looking almost as feral as his wolf, and the next he was standing with the bag in his hands looking much more civilized.

\- "**Can you use magic**?" the boy asked. Ned wasn't quite sure he understood the last word correctly and turned to Luwin.

\- "Did he ask about magic?"

\- "He did. **No, we cannot**. **Do you know people who can**?" The boy raised his eyebrows and buried his arm in his pouch. Ned looked, utterly speechless, as the small pouch seemed to eat the boy's arm completely. When the boy took it out, he had a ring in his hand, which he put on one of the fingers of his right hand.

\- "**Can you say something long in your language**?" the boy asked. Luwin just raised an eyebrow, but Ned answered. He had just witnessed something completely impossible, and he would not let it shock him.

\- "My name is Lord Eddard Stark of the Seven Kingdom, Lord Protector of the North. I rule upon my people while obeying my King. I have six children, which I love dearly. Rickon is the youngest, and although he is still a baby he is very tenacious and playful. Then comes Bran, my second son. He is 8 years old and very intelligent. Arya is 9, and a Lady only in name. She is the most willful of my children and I do wonder sometimes how she will be happy in this world made for men. Then there is Sansa, my little Lady, always so naïve with her songs and her stories of knights in shining armors. Then there is Robb, my heir, who is…"

\- "Thank you, Sir." The boy said, in the common tongue.

\- "I thought you did not speak our tongue?" said Ned, wondering why he had been trying to understand High Valyrian for an hour if they could have spoken in the common tongue.

\- "I did not. Now I do. It's a very useful spell, but I can only use it when I am with a native speaker and he speaks for some time without interruption. After a few sentences I start to understand, and after a few more, I can speak quite well. I will probably always have an accent, but I can now speak as well as you can." If that was true, it was certainly incredibly useful.

\- "So you are some kind of sorcerer?" Ned asked. Until then Luwin had stayed silent, but he could not when his Lord said such things.

\- "My Lord, begging your pardon, there is no such thing as magic anymore, you cannot believe…" The boy looked at the old man, blinked and disappeared.

\- "What?!" Ned said. Luwin was looking at the place the boy had stood a few seconds before, mouth wide open. Then there was a knock on the door. Ned opened, furious to have lost the strange boy… and found that very same boy looking at him with a smile. The baby wolf howled happily and went to his young master.

The boy walked past them as if nothing had happened and sat on the bed again.

\- "What are you?" The Maester asked.

\- "I'm a wizard", answered the boy. "I was told by… uh… if I remember correctly, he said his name was the Stanger here and..." Without thinking, Maester Luwyn took a step back.

\- "What did he say?" Ned asked, less shocked than his Maester. He didn't follow the Faith of the Seven, even though he respected them as Gods, and had not been taught to fear the Stranger in his childhood as all Southerners had. The Stranger was, fairly, the most fearsome aspect of the Faith of the Seven. He was the God of Death and Magic and all that is unknown.

\- "He said he would send me to a new world. Then he said things about wolves and… stags and lions, I think, but I wasn't really listening…" Harry blushed. Wolves and lions and stags? Could that be a lie? The boy seemed truthful, and after his last attempt at lying, Ned was fairly sure he would know if he lied again. Harry yawned, blushing again.

\- "Sorry, he said I would be sleepy, too." Ned nodded.

\- "We will let you rest. You can stay here for now, Harry."

\- "Thank you… uh… Lord Stark." Ned nodded again, gestured to Luwin to follow and left.

\- "So, what do you think?" Ned asked once they were behind the closed doors of his study.

\- "I do not know whether he speaks the truth or not, but what I know is that what we saw could not have been done without magic." Ned nodded.

\- "He does not seem aggressive, mostly lost in a strange land. Whether he is sent by the Gods or not, he seems like a nice boy. I believe I shall let him stay for a few weeks, he is but a child and his presence cannot hurt. Now I must now speak to Catelyn. I think she will be interested."

When Harry woke up, a wet tongue licking his face, he immediately remembered what had happened. How could he not when the black pup was watching him with its green eyes? His green eyes, exactly. Or their green eyes, now. He groaned. Of course Death had to give him a baby wolf looking like a mix between Remus and Sirius but with his own eyes to boot. As if he was not strange enough as it was. Judging by the light, it was morning. He must have slept an entire night plus a few hours. Well, no matter, he had no idea what day it was when he had fallen asleep anyway. The people he had met seemed to come from some sort of strange middle age where they thought it normal to keep wolves as pets. Oh, well, it was no stranger than using owls for posting letters. He remembered quite well what they had been wearing. His magic, since the Hallows had been mixed together a year before and his ring had been created, relied a lot more on intent than on spells. Consequently he simply wished he had similar clothes as the guy who said he was "Lord Eddard Stark", and he was suddenly warmly dressed. The pup groaned at his clothes for a second, then calmed down. Harry picked him up, thinking he would have to find him a name, and went to check if the door was locked. He found it unlocked and opened it, finding a hallway reminding him of Hogwarts. He looked around but found no one. He had been lost for a few minutes, wondering if it wouldn't be best to apparate to his room again, when he was found.

\- "Who are you?" Harry jumped and turned around.

\- "Oh, hi, I'm Harry, and you?"

\- "I'm Arya. What are you doing here?" Seeing as "here" was a small dark, dank and cold room; Harry didn't see what she was doing here, 9 years old maximum and hair in disarray.

\- "I got lost. What about you?" It was then that he noticed the pup behind her, as young as his. In the dark Night was completely invisible, but hers was a brownish grey and quite obvious.

\- "I'm hiding."

\- "You have a wolf, too." Harry said, pointing at hers, and then turning towards the place where he sensed Night. "Night, come here." The little wolf jumped towards him and in his arms as he crouched to receive him.

\- "Why do you have a wolf too?" Arya asked. "I thought only my brothers and my sister and me had wolves."

\- "I don't know. He was there when I woke up, and I think he is mine. His name is Night."

\- "Sansa has named hers Lady, I think it's a stupid name for a wolf."

\- "I don't know. If her wolf is very uptight, it should fit." Harry said with a smile. Arya laughed.

\- "You have a strange accent," she said.

\- "You think? I'm not from the North, I wouldn't know. I didn't speak your language just a little while ago."

\- "Really? Where do you come from?"

\- "It's a secret", Harry said, smiling widely as she crossed her arms. "But if you show me how to find my way to… uh… to Lord Stark, then I will show you a magic trick from my country."

\- "Will you teach me how to do it?" the little girl asked.

\- "Sorry, I can't, I swore an oath." In truth, Harry had never sworn any such oaths, but the girl could not learn magic, so he could not teach her.

\- "Okay, then, I will show you. My father is usually in his office in the morning. But you have to keep it a secret that you saw me."

\- "I swear it." They reached the corridor where Lord Stark had his office, but as they were turning the corner a woman exited the room in their direction. They had nowhere to hide, but Arya tried to run anyway. Harry stopped her.

\- "You swore you would keep it a secret!" she whispered angrily.

\- "And I also said I would show you a magic trick", Harry said. He tapped her on the head.

\- "Now nobody can see you except me and you."

\- "I'm not an idiot" Arya said.

\- "No, but you're loud, and you can still be heard. Now, shush." And Arya looked, wide eyed, as Septa Mordane, obviously looking for Arya, looked right through her.

\- "Have you seen Lady Arya, young man?" the Septa asked.

\- "No, sorry." Harry said, and she walked away. When Septa Mordane was well away, Arya laughed.

\- "Wow, that was sooooo cool! How did you do it?"

\- "It's a secret." Harry taped her head again and she was visible.

\- "Now everybody can see you. Try not to get caught." And with that, Harry walked to the men guarding the office of their Lord.

\- "Lord Stark is not to be disturbed", one of the two said, hand on the hilt of his sword.

\- "Uh… Well… are you sure?"

\- "Yes." Ok, these were not very clever guards. He had assumed that his clothes, at least, would tell them that he was "important guest" and not "boring servant" and he would be let in.

\- "Can you just tell him that I'm at the door, please?" Harry asked.

\- "Lord Stark is not to be disturbed." Harry blinked and pushed the door open. The two guards, asleep but stuck to the walls so as not to hurt themselves while falling, didn't protest anymore. Lord Stark had raised his head from whatever parchment he was reading, looking at Harry.

\- "Hello, Lord Stark, sir, uh, I woke up, and there was nobody around, and then I came here." The boy was blushing, and Ned had seen this expression a thousand times on the faces of his children (mostly Arya, but still). The boy was amused at something he had done that was probably not entirely up to the rules. - "And how did you find my office? For that matter, how did you enter?"

\- "Well, someone showed me the way here after I got lost, but I swore not to divulge their identity."

\- "Arya, then", Ned said, smiling slightly. Harry grinned and messed with his own hair, looking not guilty at all.

\- "I really couldn't say."

\- "And my guards?" Ned asked.

\- "Uh… They wouldn't let me in so… They're asleep now. I stuck them to the wall so that they won't harm themselves by falling." Ned stared at the boy. He had… what? Ned didn't know whether to frown or to laugh.

\- "Will they suffer from aftereffects from… whatever it is that you did?"

\- "Oh, no, they will just wake up and probably wonder how they could fall asleep while arguing with me, but that's about it."

\- "Very well. Please refrain from making my guards fall asleep at their post again. So, what was it that you wanted to discuss?"

\- "Hm, well, so, I woke up, and you said I could stay until then, so, I wanted to say thanks for everything, you know, finding me and stuff."

\- "Do you have anywhere to go?"

\- "Well, not really, but I can manage."

\- "You may stay here for a few weeks, until you are fully recovered and can find your way with a map to wherever you want to go next."

\- "Really? Thank you very much, that's very nice."

\- "In the mean time, try not to curse my men."

\- "Oh, no, I won't, I promise. Well, except if I really really need to, but not badly." Ned laughed.

\- "Very well then. If you wish you should be able to find my sons Jon and Robb and my ward Theon training in the courtyard. You have my authorization to practice if you so desire."

\- "Thank you, Lord Stark." Ned watched the boy leave; completely unaware that he had broken at least half the rules of courtesy. But it was refreshing, somehow, to have someone who spoke to him with respect but without any groveling. Behind Harry the little pup followed happily. Harry woke the guards up and asked them directions to the courtyard. He found it quite easily; it wasn't far, just bellow Lord Stark's office, really. There were men going around and Night was the one to find who he was looking for. The pup ran to his brothers but tripped and fell with a small yelp. Harry crouched down to get the pup and check him, but he was alright and bit him playfully.

\- "Hello" Harry said, looking at the four of them.

\- "Hi! I'm Bran. Have you chosen a name for your pup yet?" Asked the youngest, who seemed a bit younger than Arya.

\- "Yes. This is Night, and I'm Harry, it's nice to meet you, Bran."

\- "Oh, Night is a nice name. And he does look like the night. He is the complete opposite of Jon's pup."

Harry looked around and found a white wolf with red eyes looking at him from his master's leg. As Night went around bumping into things and howling happily, this wolf was silently watching from his post and seemed much older than the others.

\- "I'm Jon Snow" said the master of the white pup.

\- "Hello, Jon, I'm Harry Potter. And…" Harry turned towards the two other boys, not noticing the weird look Jon sent him, as he didn't even flinch when he heard his last name. Harry had no clue that Snow was a bastard's name, but he couldn't have cared less if he had known.

\- "I'm Theon Greyjoy, Heir to the Iron Islands." For some reason, that boy reminded Harry of Peter Pettigrew. Always jealous, afraid, unhappy, and, in the end, traitor. - "And I'm Robb Stark" finished the fourteen year old.

\- "Nice to meet you. And have you named your wolves?" he asked, looking at the three pups.

\- "Mine is Grey Wind," answered Robb, and the wolf raised his head at his name. In the mean time Night had fallen off a small wall he had been walking on into a pile of grass, and was now stuck in it. Harry went to pick him up and let him go free, as Jon spoke.

\- "Mine is Ghost"

\- "And mine doesn't have a name. What do you like best, Fearsome or Knight?

\- "I don't know. It is your choice, really."

\- "But everybody has already taken the good names!" the boy exclaimed.

\- "I heard someone picked "Lady" as a name. Certainly, you cannot believe this person picked a good name?" Harry said whispering loudly over his hand as if he was trying to hide a secret. The boy laughed again and Harry smiled at him.

\- "Your wolf is a menace," Jon said suddenly, laughing. Harry turned to see Night trying to catch a bird and failing with quite a sad lack of grace. He was currently trying to jump onto a very small platform to catch a bird that would very obviously fly away long before the wolf could touch it. As Harry could not have a completely absurd wolf he whispered to the others.

\- "No, he is a super wolf, you'll see." When Night finally jumped Harry picked him up with a silent wandless Wingardium Leviosa, stoping him from crashing a good meter away from the platform, and at the same time froze the bird in mid air. He flew Night to the platform and released the bird just as his wolf's teeth closed around it.

\- "Uh, am I the only one who saw that wolf floating for a second?" Robb asked the others.

\- "No, no, he is just a very gifted hunter, that's all" Harry answered with a grin. Jon sent him a piercing look that Harry ignored, watching Night fall of the platform. Well, he had the clumsy slightly mentally deficient wolf. At least he was funny.

\- « So did you want anything? » Robb asked.

\- « No, well, Lord Stark said I could stay here for a few weeks, and told me to come here train with you. »

\- « Do you have a sword? » Jon asked.

\- « No, I've never really used one. Well, except once, but that's a long story. I don't think I would really be any use with it. »

The other boys, even the little one, looked at him as if he was an alien. Harry grinned and looked around the courtaud for something he could train at.

\- « I think I might not be completely inefficient with a bow, » he said. After the few first minutes where he had to learn how to actually shoot an arrow, under Theon's sarcastic comments, his hunch was confirmed. He had trained half his life to hit his mark with a wand and it was not so very different. Once his arrows actually departed from his bow, it was a piece of cake to hit center every time. The others looked very impressed, especially since it was obvious it was his first time. Harry grinned, infused some of his magic to his arrows, and send the first one in the exact center. The second one he sent so well it cracked the first arrow open, and the third one cracked the second. He stopped at the fourth, at which time everyone in the courtyard had stopped what they were doing to watch him shoot.

\- « I don't think I've ever seen someone shoot like this, » Robb said.

\- « Thanks. So, I think I'm done, here, not that this isn't fun, but I'm starving. Do you know if I could find somewhere to eat? »

\- « I'll come with you to the kitchens, » Jon said. He nodded to Robb, Bran and Theon and they departed.

\- « Have you really never used a bow before? » Jon asked.

\- « I have used… throwing weapons, it helped me a lot out there. » Harry shrugged.

\- « So, how did you end up in the snow? You look and speak as a highborn, but you were alone out there. »

\- « I… I don't want to lie, but I would rather not say, if that's alright? I told Lord Stark. »

\- « Suit yourself. » They arrived at the kitchens, where Jon asked for some soup.

\- « So, what do you do here? » Harry asked, eating.

\- « What do you mean? »

\- « Well, do your parents work here? Why are you raised in the castle? » Jon looked at Harry, not finding any trace of sarcasm or hate.

\- « My father is Lord Stark. »

\- « Really? » Harry asked, eyebrow raised. « But why is your name Snow then? »

\- « You don't know? »

\- « If I did, I wouldn't ask. »

\- « Snow is a bastard's name, in the North. » Jon said. He had thought that this boy didn't judge him for his birth, but apparently he just hadn't known. Well, now he would shun him like everyone else.

\- « What? » Jon looked at the other boy again, wondering. He seemed shocked, but not at all scornful. It was the single strangest reaction he had ever had. Harry kept gong.

\- « Oh, you mean your parents weren't married. »

\- « Of course. What else could I mean? » Jon wondered. What else could « bastard » ever mean?

\- « Uh… where I come from the fact that the parents are married or not don't matter, really. Bastard is used as an insult, but nobody really means it as not being born from a married couple. »

\- « That is very strange. Where your parents married, then? »

\- « Yes, but I had lots of friends whose parents weren't. Mine were a bit different, as my father was a Lord, you see, and so if he wanted my mother to be accepted by his relatives as an equal he had to marry her. But it wouldn't have mattered for me, whether they were married or not. »

\- « I've never heard of such a thing. But does that mean that you are a Lord? »

\- « Well, where I'm from, yeah, but it doesn't really matter here, does it? »

\- « Of course it matters! I mean, you are obviously highborn, and that's a great deal. By the way, where did you get you clothes? They're not mine or Robb's.

\- « I had them with me. It's part of my story I don't want to tell. Oh, by the way, what is the currency, here? » Jon looked at the strange boy, but shrugged and took a few coins from his pouch.

\- « This is a copper, it's worth 8 pennies, here. And that's a silver stag, worth 7 stars. And then there is the golden dragon, but I don't have any of those."

In his world the Goblins enchanted gold, silver and each and every currency available so that no one could create any. The Gold Truce had decided it, because before that wizzarding economy was in complete chaos. A wizard could very easily differentiate between real gold and transfigured one, but no muggle could. Transfigured gold had the same texture, the same properties, and in the muggle world, the same value as real gold. So any wizard could simply transfigure some gold, sell it to a muggle, and then exchange the money for wizzarding currencies. It was said that the philosopher's stone could create real gold, not the transfigured kind, but Harry wasn't sure whether it was true or not. But in this world, if Death had told the truth and he was really in another universe, there were no Gold Truce and no Goblins.

\- "I know a magic trick" Harry said. "Do you want to see?"

\- "As long as you don't make any of my stags disappear, yes," Jon answered. Harry grinned at him and picked up a small rock on the ground. Il put in on the table, near one of Jon's stags. Looking at the real thing, he covered the rock with his hand and concentrated. It was very easy to copy something inanimate. He just had to let his magic inspect the template and reproduce what it had seen. He pushed his magic towards the coin, then towards the rock and closed his eyes. Once he had done it once he could probably do it any time he wanted, but it was the first time he actually created silver, even if he was just copying. His magic was used to not be able to do such a thing. He sensed when the barrier cracked and let his magic flow into the new coin. He grinned and put his hand away.

Jon was staring at the new coin.

\- "Cool trick, right?" Harry said.

\- "Yes. How did you do it?"

\- "It's a secret, sorry. But I'll give you the coin, instead. Keep it. I have others."

\- "I can't accept your money, Jon said. You're my father's guest."

Harry pouted a second, took the coin pocketed it.

\- "You're not the kind to change your mind, are you?"

Jon grinned at him.

\- "So, you don't happen to know where I can find some books on this… land?"

\- "Well, there are books in the library. Come on, I'll show you."

Jon led Harry up two flights of stairs, along a corridor then another.

The library was quite small, to Harry, who had been raised half his life in Hogwarts. But it was clean and well lit. The old man Harry had seen before, Mister Luwin or something like that, was there, two books in his arms.

\- "Ah, Jon, Ser Potter, I see you have woken up."

\- "Yes. I was wondering if there were books here about the history of this land. And maps, maybe?"

\- "Oh, you can read. Well, very well, please, come in. Yes, the library of Winterfell is the biggest of the North. There are a lot of books on history. Please, read any book you want."

\- "Thank you."

Harry walked to some books, reading the titles.

\- "I'm going to go back, Harry. I will see you later?"

\- "Yes, thank you, Jon."

Jon departed and Harry took a seat after choosing three books that seemed interesting. He spent the whole afternoon reading the first one. The old man, who had left shortly after Harry had arrived, came back and looked over his shoulder.

\- "You seam to read very quickly, Ser Potter."

\- "Please, call me Harry. And, do you think?"

\- "Oh, yes, as quickly as any Maester that I know. And High Valyrian, too. But, I would imagine that would be easier for you than any book written in the common tongue."

Until the man said it Harry had not noticed his book was not written in the language he was speaking. That was one of the troubles with the spell he had cast on himself. In the first few days, you couldn't really differentiate which language you were speaking, and tended to speak any language that your interlocutor spoke.

\- "Well, thank you. What is a Maester, exactly? There are some mentions of the title in the book, but I couldn't find any explanation of it."

\- "That would be because I believe every one knows what a Maester is," the old man said, smiling when Harry pouted. "A Maester is a learned man, who has studied for some years in Old Town and obtained different skills. Healing, caring for ravens, writing, reading, history, economy, politics, such arts must be learned. There is a Maester in every castle, or close enough. Some Maesters are better at some arts, other at other arts, but a Maester must have at least some knowledge of all of them."

\- "Oh, ok. I had thought it was something of the sort. There was a mention of Aemon Targaryen, who didn't inherit the Throne since he had become a Maester instead. Does that mean that you must forsake all ties to your family?"

\- "Yes. Once a Maester you have no other family than Old Town and the House you are sent to serve."

\- "Ok, I understand. Thank you for explaining."

\- "It is no problem. I am afraid my students are often more interested in running around with swords than studying with me."

Harry smiled.

\- "I've met Arya, and Bran, Jon and Robb, and Theon too. Arya spoke of her sister, Sansa, I think? Does Lord Stark have more children, or wards?"

\- "Little Rickon is the last Stark son to date. He has only seen three years."

\- "Do they all have wolves? Why do I have one?"

Harry had left Night with Jon. The little pup would not stay quiet for more than half a second, and the library could not have stood his presence for long without burning.

\- "Lord Stark's party found you fallen and asleep in the snow near a she-direwolf's corpse. There were seven pups, one for each child of Lord Stark and yours."

\- "But… I mean, I think Theon has been here for longer, why do I have the pup? Not that I'm not happy, of course, he is great, but…"

\- "According to Bran, the second the pup was found by Jon he ran to you, jumped on Lord Stark's horse where you had been tied up and sat on you, licking your face. You were asleep for a whole day afterwards, and the pup stayed with you all the while, groaning at intruders and licking your hand. I do not think there can be any doubt as to whom he has chosen as his master."

\- "Okay, then. Oh, did you say direwolf? Is that some kind of wolf?"

\- "It is the giant wolf that lives in the lands beyond the Wall. The females grow up to the size of a warhorse, and the males even bigger than that. Nobody knows how the mother could have crossed to the South undetected."

\- "Wow. That's really cool. Then I can ride it and go really fast."

Harry grinned, imagining how nice it would actually be to be able to ride Night. Well, right now, except flees, he couldn't see anything riding the pup, and Night kept crashing into everything, so that wouldn't be very healthy anyway. Still. Maybe he could also turn the wolf into another pet if he needed to stay hidden. He would have to think about it.

\- "It will be time for supper soon, I believe Lord Stark would like you to dine with his family, as his guest. Come, I will show you the way."

It was noticeably colder, now, in the deserted courtyard. There were two guards waiting, and Harry feared they would freeze to death. Without his warming charm he would. He sent them a warming charm too; making them pull strange faces but instantly relax a bit, their teeth stopping their click-clicks.

The Maester brought him with him to the head table. Harry saw the Maester bow and mimicked his actions but probably very badly. He made a sheepish smile.

\- "Ah, Harry, welcome," Lord Stark said. "Take a seat and eat as my guest."

Harry took the last free seat after Maester Luwin had sat. It was between a little boy that could only be Rickon and Jon, who smiled at him.

\- "Thank you, Lord Stark." Harry said, because he had no idea what exactly you were supposed to say.

Harry recognized most of the people at the table, except a woman and a little girl of maybe 12 or 13 who both looked a lot like Robb. Harry guessed that must be Sansa and the unknown mother.

\- "So, Harry, my Maester says you have spent your afternoon reading, but the Captain of my Guards told me he saw a prodigy in the yard."

\- "I wouldn't say prodigy, Lord Stark. I'm able to shoot arrows, it is no great feat. I did, however, spend the afternoon in the library."

\- "You should not address my Lord husband such," said the red haired woman with a brisk voice.

Harry looked at her.

\- "Uh, I'm sorry, I really have no idea how else to address him. Sorry."

\- "Catlyn, it is quite alright, the boy is a stranger to our customs."

\- "And he addresses me without proper title, too," the woman said.

Harry didn't wait another second. If he had to hear the woman again, he would send her an Avada and that would he it. He erected a silencing spell around himself and Jon, put his hand in front of her mouth and asked loudly.

\- "Jon, what am I supposed to call the woman?"

Jon turned to him, wide eyed, then to the other people, as if he couldn't believe they weren't reacting to what he had just said.

\- "My Lady, and My Lord."

Oh, well, that made sense. Harry dropped the spell.

\- "I am deeply sorry if I offended you, My Lady, I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive the mistake of a man who did not know better. My Lord, please accept my apology as well for the way I have spoken to your Lordship."

It was shoo-licking but hell, he wasn't here to spend his time listening to the woman pester him. He was hungry and the food smelt great and if he had to grovel to eat, he would. He didn't know anywhere else in this universe but this "Winterfell", and so apparating would be no help at all if he had to escape. He could always fly away, turn invisible or simply stun everyone, but he rather not go to the trouble.

The woman appeared slightly appeased. They started to eat. Harry noticed very quickly that table manners were apparently quite unrequired of men. The woman did eat with her fork and knife, and so did the eldest girl, Sansa, but all the others seemed to think that such things were there to decorate the table.

Harry ate as he usually did, but erected a small protecting spell that would intercept any stray food sent his way by people talking and eating at the same time. He had become quite good at it by eating with Ron for so long.

\- "So, Harry, what was it that was so interesting in those books?" Jon asked, looking at him with his grey eyes.

\- "I read about the history of Westeros, and of the North. It's very interesting. The book said that there was no magic left here. Do you know if it's true?"

\- "Maester Luwin says that the magic and the sorcerers have left the Seven Kingdoms. But Old Nan says that there is magic and monsters in the Lands beyond the Wall," Bran said.

\- "Really? Maybe I should go there and see. How long does it take to go there?"

\- "With a good horse, two good weeks, maybe a bit more. But you can't go on the other side. The Black Brothers guard the gate," Jon said.

\- "I thought the Night Watch was protecting the Realm," Bran said. "Do they also keep you for going North?"

\- "Well, if you're a Lord, no. I would imagine that if Father went there and asked to spend a day on the other side, they wouldn't object to it. But they can't just allow any traveller to cross," Jon said.

\- "But if there is magic only there…," Harry said.

\- "Some say that there are magic and unicorns on Skagos," Arya said.

\- "Really? Where is that?"

\- "It's an island to the North East. If you go to the Wall, you can go to Eastwatch-By-The-Sea and take a boat from there.

\- "I might do that, then."

\- "There is also magic in the East, in Braavos and Lys", Rob said.

\- "Well, then there is lots of magic" Harry grinned. "And I have lots of places to go."

\- "You can't just travel like that," Theon said, scowling. "You need money to travel, and men to serve you, and you have none of those things."

\- "I don't have men, that is true, but I'm quite capable of doing things by myself. As for money, I have enough."

As Harry could apparently create money as he needed it, he was probably the richest man in the Seven Kingdoms.

In the two weeks that followed Harry talked to all the children. He ended up very close to Arya and Jon, and found that he really liked Lord Stark.

\- "Harry, you have asked to see me?" Asked Eddard. Harry had been staying with them for two weeks now, and he had decided that he would tell him to stay if he wanted to, as he had become fast friends with his children, Jon in particular, and Jon could never have too many friends. That morning, at breakfast, Harry had asked if he could speak with him, and Eddard had nodded and told him to come find him in his study later.

\- "Yes. Here".

Harry put the bundle he was carrying on Ned's desk. The Lord looked at it. He had known Harry had bought a sword, even though he could not imagine how he had paid for it, but still. But Harry had the right to his own sword.

Ned unfastened the clothes around the sword and opened shocked eyes.

\- "I wanted to offer you a token of my gratitude, to thank you for your hospitality. You know I have magical powers. This sword I bought from the armorer, but it is now enchanted. It will not break, ever, or even chip." The pommel was a grey direwolf howling, with diamonds instead of real eyes, but when Ned picked it up the sword was almost weightless.

\- "So, I had never used a sword before, but after practicing, I have noticed that no weight at all makes for quite a bad weapon. So I have decreased the weight, but not too much, so that you can still use it."

\- "And you say it will never break?"

\- "No. And you shouldn't try to sharpen it, either; you will just end up breaking the sharpening stone. It will not be damaged by anything. Well, except maybe another enchanted blade, I can't say, I don't really know anything about the magic of this land."

\- "This is a gift fit for a king, Harry. You could buy yourself anything you ever wanted for just the blade on this."

Harry grinned at him. In his two weeks here he had finally managed to see a golden dragon. He put his hand up, concentrated for a second, and there were ten dragons in his hand.

Ned's eyebrows went to his hairline.

\- "Where does that come from?"

\- "I have created it. It is very easy for me. I don't doubt that I will have no trouble paying for my expenses."

\- "I can say it, Harry, you are by far the strangest person I have ever met."

Harry grinned again.

\- "Thank you. So, I think I will leave tomorrow, if that is all right with you. I want to go to the Wall, then to Eastwatch and Skagos. I will see from there. Probably the free cities."

\- "Will you come back to Westeros, do you think?"

\- "I don't know. It depends. I… I don't think I will find any of my people anywhere in this universe, but if I do I might stay with them. If I don't… I will see."

\- "I understand. You are always welcome in Winterfell, Harry, be it for a day or for a year."

Harry blushed.

\- "You have done more than you know for me. Without you it would have taken me months, maybe years, to find out what your Maester and your library have taught me in two weeks. I have a last gift, if you will agree to it."

\- "Yes?" Lord Stark answered, questioning.

\- "I can put a spell on an object, something you always wear, something that will not be lost. If you ever need me you can use it to call me and I will instantly come."

\- "It is very generous, Harry. I will accept, and thank you for it. Will the spell damage the object?"

\- "No. No one will be able to see that it is even there, not even you."

Harry left the next day for the Wall, riding a horse Lord Stark had given him and with Night at his side. After two hours of running and walking in the snow the small pup was tired and Harry levitated him behind him. At first the wolf was very wary of magic and of invisible forces suddenly moving him around, warming him up and protecting him from the rain or the snow. But after a while he became accustomed to it. Two weeks later when they reached the Wall, the pup seemed to sense when the magic was coming.

Harry had no problem at all to enter castle Black. From the outside of the gates he apparated with Night, both invisible, leaving the horse visible at the gate, to the courtyard. Lord Stark had told him that the Brothers of the Night Watch always needed new supplies and a horse found would not go remiss. From there he simply took his broom out of his pouch and flew to the top of the wall. He stayed there for a while, listening to the men's conversations, and then flew down to the other side.

….

Six moons later

Harry was sleeping, in the tent he had erected for the night, in the middle of the forest in the island of Skagos, but woke up suddenly. For a second he wondered what had woken him up, as the wards around the invisible tent had not fallen down. Then he sensed it, the spell. Lord Eddard Stark was calling.

\- "Night, we will have to apparate, you're ready?"

He didn't have time to take care of his stuff. He would come back later to take it, but for now he had to go.

Night pouted a little at being woken up like that, but came to him all the same. Harry spelled himself clean and clothed, and apparated to Lord Stark.

He appeared in one of the rooms of Winterfell, Ned looking at him with tired eyes deepened by sadness.

\- "What is it?" Harry asked.

\- "It's Bran, he… he fell, and he is… he is… We do not know if he will wake up."

Harry nodded, but he was frowning. After he had seen Bran climb twenty times and almost died of heart attacks as many times, he had spent a whole night flying over Winterfell spelling the walls, the roofs and the fallen towers so that he couldn't fall of off them.

Could his spells have failed?

He would know as soon as he saw the place.

He followed Ned to Bran's room, where he found Lady Stark sitting beside the bed and Maester Luwin looking sad and powerless.

The Maester looked at them.

\- "My L… Harry? What are you…"

\- "I have come to see if my arts can help where yours cant, Maester."

\- "What can you do, boy?" asked the Lady, scornful. She had not liked him, and after seeing how she treated Jon, he had not liked her much either. But her son was maybe dying beside her, and Harry had nothing but pity for the woman.

\- "I am a sorcerer" Harry said. He had learned since his departure from Winterfell what the people knew of some kinds of magic and how to be seen as a "normal magic user" rather than a "freak of nature" or some kind of god.

Lady Catlyn scoffed, but Harry turned towards Lord Stark.

\- "I need to be totally concentrated. I understand that your Lady wife must remain here, so I will put a bubble of silence around my head. Please try not to touch me, it could greatly disturb the healing process. I will do what I can."

Although Harry had not done it for a long while, separating the Hallows was an easy process. It was also necessary, now. He needed the complete concentration of power the Elder Wand provided for this. As he was not a very good healer, he would have to force the healing by sheer will, and seeing the crushed legs of the boy, it would be no easy feat. Still, he had to do it. He remembered Bran's shout of joy as he finally pinned an arrow where he was supposed to and his smile as he was eating the last blueberry, his cheeks covered by juice. And Bran wanted to be a knight. If he did nothing the boy might live, but he would never walk again.

He asked Night to stand guard, and erected the silence bubble. Then he turned the Wand towards the boy and closed his eyes.

He did not know how much time he spent sending his magic into the limps, asking them what they looked like, trying to repair them, then going up an inch and doing it all over again. The legs were not the worst of it, Bran also had three broken ribs, including one almost piercing his lungs, but that was far from the chaos of his shattered spine. But Harry kept going. It was like a puzzle, watching how it was before, turning something, no, not like this, the other way, no, not this way either, ah, yes, like that, perfect. Next bit of bone, yes, like this, no. When Harry was finally finished he opened his eyes just as the magic feeding the bubble of silence and his legs gave out. He crashed on the ground, asleep from magical exhaustion.

**So, did you like it? I will post next chapter next week since I've already written seven of them. Do let me know if you like my Harry and the other characters too.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone ! Here is my second chapter!**

**Thank you all for your support and reviews! Every time I get one I feel giddy as a five year old girl meeting a real unicorn X3**

**By the way, a lot of you have asked why I didn't publish everything I had written already, since I said last chapter that I had written 7 chapters. When I say I have written them, I don't mean that they're ready to publish immediately. I still need to reread them, correct them, check if I didn't completely forget one of my characters, verify the accuracy of my infos (when I write I do it by memory from what I remember of the books, but there are so many characters in ASOIF that I need to check in case I mistook one for another, or something of the sort), and that takes time. Since I do have a life, and these chapters are quite long (around 10 000 words each) I need around a week to do it. It may be less, when I'm not too busy like this week, and it might be more. So here, you guys have your answer ^^**

**Chapter 2: Winterfell**

_Previously:_

_The legs were not the worst of it, Bran also had three broken ribs, including one almost piercing his lungs, but that was far from the chaos of his shattered spine. But Harry kept going. It was like a puzzle, watching how it was before, turning something, no, not like this, the other way, no, not this way either, ah, yes, like that, perfect. Next bit of bone, yes, like this, no. When Harry was finally finished he opened his eyes just as the magic feeding the bubble of silence and his legs gave out. He crashed on the ground, asleep from magical exhaustion._

Harry was woken by the distinctive sound of a laughing child, high and happy. He turned on his bed and saw Bran, sitting on a chair, his faced being licked by his still unnamed wolf.

\- "Hey, Bran."

\- "Harry!"

\- "How long have I been asleep?"

\- "Since yesterday morning, I think. I woke up just two hours ago, and they told me you had healed me. I remember the sound of my legs being crushed under me, but now…" the boy was looking at his legs with awe.

\- "Can you walk?"

\- "Yes!" Bran stood up to show Harry. He was a bit shaking, but he walked without trouble.

\- "It hurts a bit still, Maester Luwin says you just left a few scratches and bruises to remind me of how stupid I had been."

\- "I certainly didn't do it on purpose, but if you're happy, I'm happy." Harry answered with a tired grin.

\- "What happened to you? They said you fell asleep and no one could wake you up."

\- "I used a lot of power to heal you. Just like when you do a lot in one day and then you have to sleep a lot afterwards," Harry tried to explain.

\- "Well, just the same, everyone was worried. You should have seen Mother, she was the most concerned, I think. She kept asking Maester Luwin why he couldn't help you, and what had happened to you. Oh, I should tell the others that you woke up."

As Harry sat in his bed, yawning, feeling his depleted magical core, he heard Bran shouting happily outside. Winterfell felt a lot fuller than it had been the last time he had been here. He wondered why that was. Certainly all these people could not have come only to check on Bran, since the little boy had just fallen two days ago. It was not as if they could apparate as he could.

Jon was the first one in the room.

\- "Harry!"

\- "Hey, Jon, how are you?"

\- "How… What… You saved Bran's life, Harry!" Jon said. "You're the greatest healer I've ever heard of!"

\- "Thank you. I know a few tricks. Will you help me stand? I fear my room will be soon invaded and I would rather be on my feet to greet them."

\- "Certainly not. You have been asleep for more than 24 hours, you have to stay put. And I think Lady Stark might behead me if I hurt her son's savior."

Harry pouted, turned to Night, and patted the bed so that the pup would jump beside him.

Arya entered the room with something resembling a battle cry. Behind her followed her Lord Father, her Lady Mother and the rest of her siblings.

\- "Hawwy!" little Rickon exclaimed, jumping on the bed, his wolf now bigger than he was right beside him.

\- "Hello, Rickon. Hello, My Lady, My Lord, Arya, Sansa, Robb."

He nodded to them in turn as he spoke their name.

\- "None of that, now, Harry," Lady Stark said. "You have saved my son from a terrible fate, and me from madness, I fear. You will call me Catlyn."

\- "Very well, Lady Catlyn."

\- "Harry, in the name of all the Starks, and all the North, thank you for what you did for my son. Without you…" Eddard started, at a loss for words.

\- "I was there, and all is well, please speak no more of it," Harry answered. "Uh, if I may ask, why are there so many people in Winterfell?"

Even through the closed window he could hear numerous people in the courtyard bellow.

\- "The King has come to visit, with all his retinue, and the Queen an the princes and princess as well."

\- "Oh, I see," Harry answered, and he didn't really see. Why would the King come to Winterfell?

\- "How are you, Harry?" Lady Catlyn asked.

\- "Well, thank you. I was not ill, simply tired. I should have told you this might happen. Bran's spine had been badly broken and I have needed a lot of power to heal him. It will take a few days until I am completely recovered, but I should be able to walk in an hour or so."

Harry's belly apparently decided that this was a good time to remind them all that he had not eaten in more than a day. Lady Stark immediately ordered a servant to bring a full meal at once. The servant scurried away, leaving the room still full of people.

\- "Where have you been, Harry?" Arya asked suddenly.

\- "I was in Skagos when your father called me here. I have sadly not encountered any unicorns. But I have been beyond the Wall, too."

\- "How did you come so fast from Skagos?" Lady Catlyn asked, cutting Bran who was probably about to ask about the Wall.

\- "I can travel instantly from a place to another, it is one of my gifts. I can only go where I have already been, however, except if I use a device such as the one Lord Stark used to call me here. "

\- "You arrived barely clothed, not even with a cloak on," Ned said.

\- "I left my things at my camp. It is protected so that no one will find it, so it can wait a few days until I can go back."

\- "You can bring animals with you when you travel like that?" Bran asked. He was always the one to note such things.

\- "I can even travel with a few people, when I'm fully rested. It is not particularly pleasant, but it does go very fast."

\- "What other power do you have?" Arya asked.

Harry grinned.

\- "That's a secret!"

\- "Oh, you can make people invisible!" The little girl exclaimed.

\- "And how do you know, young lady?" Lady Catlyn asked, but even though she tried she seemed more awed and amused than angry.

\- "I turned Arya invisible during a game of hide and seek," Harry answered with a smile. It was not technically totally true, but who cared?

\- "Hey, that's cheating!" Bran exclaimed, making everyone laugh. After they had calmed down, Ned spoke.

\- "Children, you should leave Harry to rest for now. When he is able to walk on his own, you can ask him all the questions you want."

As Ned finished and the children obeyed grudgingly a servant appeared with Harry's meal. Ned and Catlyn stayed with him as he tore through the dinner, famished.

\- "Harry, I fear the King will want to speak with you. He heard of Bran's fall and saw him before I called you. Needless to say he thought Bran would… Bran would die, and now Bran is jumping around with scratches on his knees, and someone must have heard the servants talk, because the King knows it was you."

Harry shrugged.

\- "What do you think he will say?"

\- "I… I knew the King very well when we were younger, but now… Now I cannot say. He is often in his cups, and even when he is not he isn't the man I knew. I believe he will thank you, but he will probably also question you on how you did what you did."

\- "I see. What do you think I should say?"

\- "It is your choice. Maybe…" Ned started, seeming immensely sad. "Maybe it would be better if you were not to tell him that you can do other things than heal. A healer, however supreme his powers, is no threat to any man."

Harry nodded.

\- "And if he asks how I came to be in Winterfell?"

\- "Coincidences happen. You came back from travelling after six months, stayed in Wintertown until now, and I called on you because I knew of your healing."

\- "Very well, then I shall say that and no more. But… what about where I am from?"

\- "What do you usually say?"

\- "Well, not much, really. Mostly I say I'm from the South, because not many smallfolk in these parts have ever heard a southern accent. But that wouldn't work in front of the King."

As Harry's accent was nothing at all like the southern one, no.

\- "You can say you are from Skagos. Yes, that will go well. You can be a small Lord's son from Skagos, maybe a nephew of the Magnar."

\- "Well, certainly nobody could doubt it, as nobody ever goes to or from Skagos," Harry nodded. And I do know the island well, as I have spent the last two months exploring it to find unicorns. And everyone already believes Skagos full of magic anyway."

\- "Yes. I don't like lying to Robert, not one bit, but the Queen… she would feel threatened by you, even as I know that you would not want to hurt her."

\- "I thank you for your trust. I am used to lying because of necessity, but I do not think I will ever like it."

Ned nodded and departed the room, but his wife lingered a moment more.

\- "Harry, I… I have been harsh with you, but I was wrong, and I see it now. When my Lord husband called, you could have stayed where you were but instead you came and saved Bran from a terrible fate. I thank you. As long as I live you will have a friend in me."

\- "Thank you, Lady Catelyn. I understand why you might have been suspicious of me. My Lady, I have an offer to give you. I know a secret of your Lord Husband's. It is not a secret he gave me, but one I learned by accident, and I had thought to take it to my grave. It is not mine to give. However, I know for certain that if you knew it you would feel much happier, and I believe you should know."

\- "My Lord Husband does not keep secrets from me."

\- "This one he has kept, for his sake, for yours and because of an oath he made a long time ago. But I know a spell that would permit me to give this secret to you but make sure at the same time that you never appear to know it, never tell it by mistake."

Catelyn looked at Harry, wondering what was this secret he was talking about.

Finally, she asked.

\- "Could this hurt my Lord Husband in any way?"

\- "No." Harry said firmly.

\- "And you are sure that I would be happier knowing it?"

\- "Yes." Harry said as firmly.

\- "Then I want to know."

\- "I cannot perform the spells required today. Tomorrow my powers will be strengthened and I shall tell you."

\- "Very well. I shall see you tomorrow, then."

She left as well, and Harry was left alone with Night.

Three hours later, as Harry was reading a book sent by Maester Luwin, a servant came with a summon from the King. Harry was well enough to walk unaided now, although he couldn't have performed the simplest spell even if his life depended on it.

The King awaited him in Winterfell's Great Hall, seated on a wooden throne, Lord Stark not far from him, and his Queen by his side.

Harry walked forth and knelt as he had learned to do since he had appeared in the Seven Kingdoms.

\- "So you are the one who healed young Bran, are you?" The King asked.

\- "Yes, your Grace", Harry said, rising to stand on his feet.

\- "What's your name, boy?"

\- "I am Harry Potter, your Grace."

\- "Ned told me you're from Skagos. He says it is a magical land."

\- "We pray to the Old Gods, Your Grace, and they grant us some gifts in return."

\- "I saw the boy before you healed him, boy. He was nearer to the Stranger than to life! He would never have walked again."

\- "I met Bran six moons ago, Your Grace, he is a valiant boy, and has been my friend. The Gods must have wanted him to live and to walk again, to place me in his path as they did."

\- "Well, you are certainly a better healer than anything I have ever seen. You have saved my friend's son. Speak, and you shall receive any reward."

\- "Your Grace, I thank you for your kindness, but I do not desire any reward."

\- "Your actions will not go without reward. You shall go south with us, and have a place at court."

Harry had no desire to go to court, but he had no particular reason to refuse either. And, anyway, Arya, Sansa, Bran and Lord Stark were going south too, apparently. Bran had told him so when he had asked why the King was there a few hours before. From what he had gathered it was a dangerous place, and Lord Stark wasn't going happily. The Starks were his friends, and he would help them if he could. Going south would help doing that.

\- "Thank you, Your Grace, it is very kind of you."

He bowed again.

\- "Robert, the boy is just some kind of trickster," the blond Queen said. "You cannot really wish to…"

\- "Shush, you woman!" The Kind exclaimed, his cup of red wine spilling half its content on the dais. "I will do as I want!".

\- "But he just saved a simple b…"

\- "You will not speak another word, My Lady!" This time the King was red with rage. "He has saved my friend's son. I would not see Ned grieving for his son anymore than I would see mine dead. This boy deserves this and more! Yes! Boy, you're not to inherit your Lord's seat, are you?"

\- "No, Your Grace, I am not. I am but an extended nephew."

\- "Let it be said, from now until the end of time, that you shall rule upon Harrenhall and the lands it stands on. Thus, I, Robert Baratheon, declare in front of Gods and Men."

Harry bowed again, not quite sure what to do now.

After the proper courtesies had been paid, Harry retired.

He found Lord Stark a bit later, after he had washed his face with cold water to shake the shock of the meeting.

\- "Surely, he spoke because he was in his cups, and angry at her Grace, and he will take it back in the morrow." Harry said when he saw the Lord.

\- "Oh, no. He will not. Once he has spoken Robert will not change his mind, even if it is only because of misplaced pride."

\- "But we lied, I am not the nephew of the Magnar of Skagos."

\- "No, you are not, but you are Lord of Harrenhall, Gods have mercy."

\- "Is it a bad place?"

Harry had heard the name, but he had no idea where or what it was. He only knew that it was a lot more than he had ever wanted. _Him_, rule over people?

\- "It has a bad history, but no. It is in the Riverlands, and if built again it is the greatest fortress ever erected. But it was destroyed by dragonfire."

\- "But…"

\- "You are the Lord of Harrenhall, Harry, better get used to it quickly."

\- "Very well, then, My Lord."

\- "I am not your Lord anymore, and you must not address me so. You can call other Lords of the Riverlands "My Lord", and you must call the Lord of the Riverlands thus, but others you must call by their name.

\- "Very well, then, Lord Stark." Harry grinned. "I feel as if I was back to my first days here."

\- "Good. Do not loose that brightness inside you."

Harry went to sleep that night tired and wondering what awaited him south. He wondered if it would be a bit like England, but he thought it wouldn't. Even if the weather was the same, too much would be different.

In the morning he found Jon training alone in the courtyard.

\- "Hey, Jon."

\- "My Lord of Harrenhall," Jon answered, bowing with a mocking smirk.

\- "Call me that again, and I'll make you one of my knights, and then you will have to do whatever I say", Harry answered back.

\- "Okay, Okay, no need to bite. So, I hope you have not come to train at sword fighting."

Harry grimaced. He was very bad, sword in hand. It was a good thing he didn't need one to defend himself.

\- "Actually, no. I was wondering where everyone is."

\- "Well, they spent the night at the high table listening to the King bellow about how he had needed a new Lord of Harrenhall anyway since the death of Lady Whent, and the Queen answer that he could have taken anyone _but_ you. For once, I'm quite happy I wasn't with them."

Harry nodded, understanding that Jon would have listened to a hundred Kings argue with a thousand Queens if he could have been a Stark and sat beside his Father, even if he would never say so.

\- "So, Sansa is going to marry Joffrey?" Harry asked.

\- "Apparently. She is quite taken with him but… I don't know, I don't trust him much."

\- "He seems like a little tyrant, you mean. Yes, I noticed, and I've only been in the same room as him once. I can't imagine how Sansa can be blind to it."

\- "She thinks she is in love."

\- "She is 13."

\- "Some girls have been wed not much later than that."

\- "I think it's wrong. And I think anyone should be free to choose who they marry."

Jon looked at him with the face that said, "You're speaking of your strange off-world ideas again." Harry answer with a grin.

They took their breakfast in the kitchens, the servants already running around to bring food to this Lord or that one.

After some time Harry went back to his room to read a bit. An hour or so later someone knocked on his door.

It was Lady Stark, and Harry knew at once why she was there.

\- "Come in, Lady Catelyn, please."

After he closed the door Harry cast the best anti-listening wards he knew. Nobody could hear what he had to say.

\- "I have cast spells that will forbid entrance to this room. No one can hear us but us. Now, this is simple." Harry took the piece of parchment he had written on the day before and showed it to the Lady.

\- "I swear not to divulge by any means, voluntary or not, what Harry James Potter will tell me between the moment I first read the words on this parchment and the moment I sign it." Lady Stark read.

\- "This is an enchanted parchment, and you will have to sign with your blood. I will heal you after this is done, you will not even have a mark. This will literally forbid you from divulging what you know, for any reason. You will not be able to go against it. Do you swear to sign it after I have told you the secret?"

\- "If it is as you told me yesterday, and it is for my protection that Ned didn't tell me, then yes, I swear."

Harry nodded and sat on the bed.

\- "I told you I found out by mistake. I have a spell that helps me find anyone I want, as long as I have his or her name. It works on you, it works on your husband, and it works on your children. But it doesn't work on Jon Snow. The only reason I have ever known for this spell not to work is because I was given a false name. So I used another of my spells to find out Jon's real name."

Catelyn was wondering where this was going. She had not expected this to be about Jon. The Bastard; the proof of her husband's unfaithfulness. Had his mother called him something else? Why should she care?

\- "And?" She asked brusquely.

But Harry's voice was calm when he spoke again.

\- "Jon Targaryen."

There was a pause, as if the world had stilled for a second.

\- "What?"

\- "At first, I have wondered. How could this be? Then I remembered what your Lord husband said about the time he went to find his sister, Lyanna. He found her in a bed of blood. How could that be? The history books are all quite clear, she was in the Tower of Joy, prisoner, maybe, but why harm her? Nobody entered the room but her guards. And why would they die to protect a woman from her brother? Except that she was Lyanna Stark no more, or Jon would have been a bastard. She was Lyanna Targaryen, then, and she gave birth and died, her son in her arms. But by that time Tywin Lannister had killed the Targaryen babes, and what do you think King Robert would have done to the child who had been the death of his love? The Targaryen child. So Eddard Stark came back with a bastard, and nobody ever spoke of it again."

And Catelyn understood, now, why Ned would never speak of the mother, not tell her even her name, or if he had loved her. Jon Snow had no mother, and Jon Targaryen was the last of his line, and dead if anyone ever learned his real name. Robert might kill Ned over this, would call him traitor. And Jon was his nephew, the son of his beloved sister, and Ned could never have done what Tywin Lannister had ordered. No, not her Ned, never.

And suddenly a happiness she had lost for what seemed like forever came back. Her Ned. Her honorable, loved and loving husband.

\- "And now, you must sign the paper," Harry said, giving Lady Stark a small blade. He pricked her thumb and he directed her to the paper. When her print was firmly imprinted on the parchment, he healed her hand.

\- "Now, try to speak of it."

Catelyn opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

\- "Very well," Harry said. "This has worked. As long as this paper is not destroyed, the spell will stay on. I will keep the paper for safekeeping; I have spells that will make it indestructible by any accident. The secret will stay safe."

As he said those last words Harry let go of the protections on the room.

\- "Thank you, Harry. Thank you."

Harry nodded and let her go.

Ned was in his study when Catelyn came in.

\- "Ned, if you are not busy, I would speak to you."

\- "Yes?"

\- "It is about Jon Snow."

Ned refrained from groaning, but it was very hard.

\- "Catlyn, I…" Ned started, but his wife cut him off.

\- "Please hear me out, and then you will speak." When Ned nodded, Cat spoke again. "Bran's fall has made me realize that even our children are not immortal, that we are not immortal ourselves. So, I was thinking that, if you still wanted it, and if he was last in line of succession after all our children, even the girls, then you could make Jon a Stark."

Ned was so speechless he thought he might fall off his feet. What? That was the last thing he had ever imagined Cat might say. She had always hated Jon, or at least refused to have any unnecessary contact with him.

\- "Really?" he dared to asked, wondering if this was some kind of waking dream.

\- "Yes. You might make it a condition of your accepting the title of Hand of the King. After all, only a King can legitimize a bastard."

Ned kissed her, loving her more than he had ever loved her, if that was even possible. Perhaps he would not have to send Jon to the Wall.

When they separated, Catelyn spoke again.

\- "He can also stay in Winterfell while you are in the south. From now on I swear to treat him as my own son."

And Ned kissed her again, because he had no word to say how happy he was.

\- "What are you doing?"

Harry turned, saw no one, and then saw him, the Queen's brother, not the knight, the other one… Tyrion?

For a second Harry thought of stunning the man, making him forget, throwing his cigarette away and waking him again. Then he thought better of it and refrained.

\- "I am smoking tobacco."

\- "You are a very strange man."

\- "Or maybe everyone else is strange and I am normal," Harry answered with a smirk.

\- "Maybe, but I don't think so," answered Tyrion after some time.

Harry grinned.

\- "If I approach, will your wolf bite me?"

\- "I don't know, depends if he likes you. I'm afraid I'm not as talented a master as the Starks are. He obeys me half the time, and half of those he gets my orders wrong."

Tyrion frowned.

\- "Isn't that dangerous?"

\- "It's certainly more interesting. But I don't think he would bite you. Night, this is Tyrion Lannister, and you should not bite him. It's bad manners, you see."

\- "If he really does obey you only half the time, you've not enhanced my chances much."

Harry laughed.

\- "Don't worry, I'll protect you. The last time Night bit me he didn't quite like the taste."

Night howled and ran into Harry's legs, pushing him as a human friend would. Then he turned towards Tyrion, walked towards him and licked his hand.

Tyrion laughed.

\- "Well, I'll take my chances, then," he said, walking to Harry. The wolf walked away happily to chase after his own tail.

\- "So, what can I do for you, My Lord of Lannister?"

\- "A conversation away from stupid people will do nicely," Tyrion answered with a shrug. "So, Lord of Harrenhal, hm?"

\- "Well, I believe I was as surprised as every one else, the King included, I would think. At least this morning."

\- "What do you intend to do with it?"

\- "I have never been south of Winterfell, did you know? So I believe I shall have to see my seat, first, and decide afterwards. According to Lord Stark it is a ruin."

\- "That it is. Quite a big one. You will need coin to build it back up."

\- "Hm…"

\- You do not seem overly worried. And as I don't believe you to be stupid either, it must mean that you have already planned things."

\- "Well, I have some ideas, certainly. Tell me, is there a city near Harrenhall?"

\- "No, not exactly near. Just some peasants, I believe."

\- "Good, very good. Then I know exactly what I shall do."

\- "I cannot imagine what it would be. Certainly, you don't mean to repair it?"

\- "Why not?"

\- "Well, it would cost you more gold than you have probably ever seen in your life, for a first."

\- "Hm… And what other reason would there be?"

\- "Some say it is cursed."

\- "It's a ruin and probably quite the gloomy sight, but cursed? Well, if it is, I will just have to lift the curse."

\- "Just that?" Tyrion asked, amused.

\- "By the way," Harry asked, "you wouldn't happen to have any idea as to what I could use as a sigil, would you?"

\- "It is tradition that the houses of Harrenhall use some black. You might have a black wolf."

\- "Oh? Wouldn't it be crossing the Starks?"

\- "Not if you ask them first. And you do have a direwolf. You could use green, too, it is the color of your eyes, and it goes well with black."

\- "So a black wolf on a green field? Yes, that might do it."

\- "What about words? Do you have any?"

\- "Yes. My father's words. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

\- "Well, that will go very well at Harrenhall, I believe. Almost as depressing as the Stark's words."

\- "I don't know. At least it has some truth to it. Do you "Hear yourself roar" often?"

Tyrion laughed.

\- "You know, you are a better companion than I have had in years. May I ask a question?"

\- "Yes, of course. I may also refuse to answer; depending on it's content."

Tyrion nodded.

\- "All my life I have met men and women who see me and think first "dwarf", "halfman". I have come to know the exact look on a man's face as he thinks such thoughts. Even a man who accepts me as I am will always see a dwarf first. I have watched you, since the first time we saw each other. You wear your emotions on your face, or close enough for me to read them quite easily. However, I have never seen such a thought as the one I speak of in your mind. Why is that?"

\- "Hm… I believe it's a difference in mentality. Where I come from we decide the valor of a man not depending upon his blood or his physical strength but depending on his… powers, shall we say."

\- "Such as those you used to heal young Bran?"

\- "Yes. One of my teachers, a very strict man, was quite a few inches smaller than you, I believe. Nobody I know, at least no adult, had ever treated him any differently from any other man of his station. He was very gifted, very talented and had a knack for learning and teaching. I respected him very much. I met him when I was one ant ten, and I believe that after my second class with him his size stopped to matter entirely." To lighten the mood a bit, Harry added. "And there is also the fact that in a sword fight against you I would probably loose."

Tyrion laughed.

\- "You cannot possibly be that bad."

\- "Oh, and worse. Until six moons ago I had used a sword only once in my life, and that was to kill a snake. Granted, it was a big snake, but it was no sword fighting all the same."

\- "You know, I would wager Casterly Rock itself that you have more powers than you say you do. Sadly, I promised myself I would go to the Wall, and shall not ride with you south and have time to find out."

\- "Do you want to go for yourself, or do you want to be able to tell the story to others later?"

\- "I could hardly care less about others."

\- "I see. Do you think that you would be missed if you disappeared for a few hours? "

\- "No, no, I don't."

\- "Will you swear that whatever I show you in the next few hours, you will not speak of it, or at least not in relation to me?"

\- "I swear it," Tyrion said.

Harry whistled twice and Night came running from wherever he had gone to.

\- "So the wolf can obey," Tyrion said.

\- "He is not obeying, he is following. This is the signal I use when I leave a place for another. I'm coming back in a few hours, do you want to come, Night?"

The wolf sent him a look obviously meaning something like "What do you think, you idiot?" Harry grinned, grasped Night in one arm and grabbed Tyrion's shoulder in his other.

There was an intense squeezing feeling, and they were there.

Tyrion fell when they arrived, but Harry remembered is first apparitions and let him be.

\- "The dizziness will stop in a minute. Afterwards, you can open your eyes and appreciate my fast way of traveling".

Tyrion stopped heaving on the ice-cold floor, wondering why he felt warm instead of cold, even as he felt snowflakes hitting his skin softly.

And then the dizziness was gone, just as Harry had said, and he _looked_.

\- "Where are we? He asked. How is this possible?"

\- "We are on top of the Wall. I can appear to any place I have ever been to before. I will bring us back to Winterfell when you have had enough of the Wall."

Night was walking west and Harry spelled him invisible so that he wouldn't encounter a shocked Black Brother. They spent a very long time gazing at the lands beyond the Wall, then to the south, where the snow dwindled and green and grey appeared.

After a while, Tyrion spoke again.

\- "Where were you when Bran fell?"

\- "In Skagos. I had given an enchanted object to Lord Stark to call me in case of emergency. It was one, he called and I came."

\- "I do not know what is stranger or more wonderful, this view, this wall, or these powers you have."

\- "Well, from my viewpoint, the Wall is more interesting, my powers more useful, but that's just me."

Tyrion smiled.

\- "you are older than you look, are you not?"

\- "Not by much. How old do you say I am?"

\- "Six and ten?"

\- "Really? That young? Wow… well, I'm supposed to look seven and ten, and I am actually 24."

\- "What does that mean, you are supposed to look seven and ten but are 24?"

\- "It's very complicated."

\- "We have time, apparently, since we can just cross 500 leagues in the blink of an eye."

\- "I'm not from Skagos."

\- "No, really?" Tyrion asked, and obviously he had guessed that.

\- "How did you know?

\- "Well, if the Skagosi really all had the same powers as you, they would rule over Westeros. So either you are an exception, which you cannot be since you said you came from a society where people are judged by this power you use, or you come from somewhere else."

\- "Okay. Uh, it's a bit complicated. I come from somewhere very different."

\- "Another continent?"

\- "No… Another universe."

Tyrion looked at him, then sent his eyes back to roam across the snowy landscape.

\- "So, in my universe there are wizards, who have the same powers I do. But, by accident, I collected certain objects that reacted to my magic and… changed me, when I was seven and ten. Since then I have not aged. Afterwards there was a War, it was horrible, between non magicals and magicals, my friends died one after the other. In the end, I needed it to stop, I had no one left, so I departed my universe and came here. Or was sent here. It's a bit fuzzy."

\- "And how did you come to meet Lord Stark?"

\- "He found me sleeping in the snow, a few feet away from the direwolves pups. I was fine, my magic protected me from the cold, but I needed to sleep because of the trip here. So he found me, took me back to Winterfell and took care of me. I stayed for a few weeks, and when I left I gave him an object to call me if he needed to."

\- "I see. So what you said to the King about Gods sending you here, it is complete bullshit."

\- "Well… It's complicated."

Tyrion stared at him.

\- "Come on, Potter, you already told me you come from another universe, what could be more complicated than that?"

\- "In my universe, we don't have the same Gods as you, we don't have any god, really, at least the wizards. But the objects I gathered, the ones I told you about, well, they were created by Death, and so by gathering them I became something called the Master of Death."

\- "What does it mean?"

\- "I'm not quite sure. I don't age since then, and I don't really… die, either."

\- "You don't what?" Tyrion asked, shocked.

\- "I can't be killed, apparently, and since I don't age…"

\- "But what happens if someone cuts your head off?"

\- "I don't know, exactly. I would assume that my body grows back, or that I need to reattach my head. I'm not quite sure. I've never tried it. If at all possible, I would like to keep it that way. I still feel pain."

\- "I fear Kings Landing is not quite ready for you, Harry Potter."

\- "I'm not sure I'm ready either, so it's alright."

\- "Tell me, why are you telling me all this? I would assume that you would rather keep it a secret."

\- "You seem a very clever man, Tyrion, and you know more of this culture than I do. I've been here for only six moons, not nearly enough to grasp even the major concepts. You seem like a good friend to have. Plus, if you ever betray me, I can just disappear, or erase your memory of me. If worse comes to worst, I can erase the memory of everybody at court and get on with my life in the free cities." Harry looked at the darkening horizon. "And I don't think anyone would believe you anyway. Powers like mine, you have to see them to believe in them. Your sister doesn't believe in my healing powers even after she saw Bran."

\- "I think you are the first man I met who told me his secrets and who then talked pleasantly about me betraying them."

Harry shrugged.

\- "I would rather we be friends, but I wouldn't kill someone because he betrayed a few secrets. Oh, by the way, do you want to fly?"

Tyrion looked at him like he was mad. Harry shrugged, put his hand in his pouch and took out his broom.

\- "Why do you… how do you…?" Tyrion asked, looking at the small pouch out of which Harry had taken a broom taller than he was. "Oh, never mind."

Harry grinned, jumped on his broom and fell away towards the lands beyond the wall. Tyrion screamed at him, probably scared for him. After some moments Harry came back up, flying upwards to the top of the Wall and stopping just beside Tyrion again.

\- "Do you want to come? You can't fly alone, I'm afraid, it only works for wizards, but you can fly with me."

\- "I would rather not die falling from a floating stick," Tyrion said, but his gaze was fixed on the broom.

Harry gestured to his feet.

\- "Try to get your feet off the ground."

Tyrion tried and looked, astonished, at his feet. Nothing had changed, but he was completely stuck on the ground.

\- "This is a sticking charm. It's quite useful. I will put one on you so that you can't fall off of the broom."

Tyrion slowly nodded, still looking at his feet. Harry unstuck them and came to park his broom low enough for Tyrion to mount behind him, his knees touching the ground. Once Tyrion was on the broom, Harry sent a warming spell, a weak bubble head spell so that they could still talk to each other in the cold wind but also feel some of the wind in their hair, and the sticking charm he had promised Tyrion.

\- "Why is it warmer?"

\- "It's a spell. Once we go fast, I don't want you to freeze to death."

\- "What about your wolf?"

\- "I turned Night invisible earlier. He can sense that I'm not far, and he has a permanent spell to slow himself down if he falls from a high place, so even if he fell off the wall he would be all right."

\- "You really think of everything."

\- "Night is the clumsiest animal I have ever seen. Two moons ago he chased his shadow off a bridge. I had to go get him in a half frozen river. Stupid little beast." Harry said with fondness.

And Harry took off into the sky. When Tyrion didn't appear too afraid after they went straight for a while, he started turning and diving a bit. Then, since Tyrion appeared more excited than frightened, Harry dived until the ground seemed like a wall and the Wall appeared to be the ground. Tyrion was shrieking in his ears, and Harry was laughing his head off. He got some altitude back, then did it again. Then he did a few loops and went towards the Lands beyond the Wall, flying over forests and frozen lakes.

\- "I think it's time to go back," Harry said. "We've been flying for an hour or so."

\- "If we take as much time to fly back, someone might be looking for me."

Harry grinned, flew down in the middle of a clearing and landed softly. He jumped off and helped Tyrion to do the same after turning off the spells.

\- "Hold my arm." Harry said, and that was the only notice Tyrion had before they were back on the wall, exactly on the spot they had been before.

Harry sensed Night immediately, although he was quite invisible, and made him visible again, just in front of Tyrion.

\- "Wow. You weren't lying when you said you had made him invisible."

\- "Nope. So, are we going back?"

\- "Yes, let's."

\- "Oh, do you mind if we go to Skagos first? I need to pick up my things, and I forgot to do it until now."

Tyrion laughed.

\- "Yes, why not go to Skagos on our magic way to Winterfell."

Harry apparated the three of them inside his camp. It was, truth be said, not much of a camp.

\- "You don't even have a fire." Tyrion said.

\- "You should look inside the tent before you criticize."

Tyrion looked at the tent as if saying "you call that a tent?" but kept quiet and went in, Harry walking in right after him, Night beside him.

\- "How is this possible?" Tyrion asked.

\- "It's magic."

\- "But… " Tyrion went outside, then back inside, then outside again, and came back in.

\- "It's cool, uh?"

\- "Do you always travel like this?"

\- "Yes. There is a kitchen, three bedrooms, a parlor. One of the rooms is Night's, when he doesn't sleep with me."

\- "And you call this camping?"

\- "Well, technically, we are in a tent. "

\- "Can you replicate this? You could sell this and be the richest man in the seven kingdoms."

Harry grinned.

\- "I'm already the richest man in the Seven Kingdoms, Tyrion. I don't need to sell tents for it."

Tyrion looked at him, frowning.

\- "What do you mean?"

Harry grinned, pointed to the table of the living room, concentrated and poof, a pile of golden dragons appeared.

\- "Wha… Where do these come from?"

\- "I just made them, it's magic. I can tell the difference immediately between a real dragon and a magic one, but since I'm the only one, well…"

\- "But what happens if someone melts these?"

\- "The same thing that happens if someone melts a golden dragon. It will still be fake magical gold, but in a different shape. Even an expert couldn't tell the difference between this gold and any other gold. You have to be a wizard to sense it."

\- "So, in essence, you have as much gold as you want."

\- "Yes, just as if I had an infinite mine and no one but me could access it. It's quite useful when you travel."

\- "Harry, you are aware that the gold you just _made_ could feed an entire village for ten years?"

\- "Well, no, not really."

\- "What?"

\- "I mean, I know that bread is cheap if you have gold. But if everyone had gold, bred would cost much more. It's not because there is more money in an economy that the people eat better."

\- "Well, yes, of course, but still."

Harry went out of the tent, put his hand to it and spoke his password.

\- "**Go away**."

The tent started to unfasten itself from the ground, sorting itself. Harry inspected the camp to check if he hadn't forgotten anything.

\- "Why did you just speak High Valyrian?" Tyrion asked.

\- "That's the language I spoke in my home land. I'm not quite sure how that's possible. When I arrived I couldn't speak a word of the common tongue, but I have a spell for learning languages, so that was resolved quite quickly."

\- "Harry, you do realize that you are the most powerful person I have ever met, don't you? And my brother in law is the King."

\- "Uh, thanks, I guess."

\- "What I mean, is… what do you intend to do with all your riches and powers?"

\- " I'm not quite sure. I would like to find out if there are other wizards somewhere, but I do have time. Since I'm apparently Lord of Harrenhall now, I've decided to do that for now."

\- "And what are you going to do?"

\- "Well, first I'm building the castle back up. I should be able to do it in a few days, but since that would probably not go well with the "don't show off" thing, I will probably put illusions on the castle to make it seam like people are working there and it's slowly improving during the next year, and then tadaa. Still, I want to do that quickly, so maybe while we are on the road. "

Harry wanted to fix Harrenhall in a few days. Tyrion refrained from snorting. For all his powers, and they were certainly quite incredible, Harry was also extremely nice and a bit naïve. It was very interesting, and the kind of person Tyrion would like to call a friend.

\- "And then?"

\- "Well, I'm not sure, but being a Lord and all, I will have subjects, right?"

\- "Yes. Harrenhall is the biggest domain of the Riverlands. His Majesty was quite… generous."

\- "He just wanted to annoy your sister, I'm sure. Still, he gave it to me, and according to Lord Stark he won't take it back. So, that means these people are my people. I will try to improve their lives as much as I can."

\- "And you can quite a lot, as I see it."

Harry grinned.

\- "I'm done here, let's go back to Winterfell, shall we?"

Tyrion nodded and Night walked to them. Harry grasped them both and apparated to his room.

\- "Where are we?" Tyrion asked, looking at the books scattered everywhere and the large bed in the middle of the chamber.

\- "It's my bedroom, I thought it best, it has protections so that no one comes in when I'm not there. This way nobody can see us appear out of nowhere."

\- "Yes, good idea indeed."

\- "So, what do you think, will you go North to the Wall, or are you riding south with us?"

\- "Will you bring me back to the Wall again?"

\- "If you wish. I'm sure we will have some time on the road."

\- "This is the strangest thing, thinking that you can go anywhere whenever you like, in an instant."

\- "Well, not quite anywhere. I can only go where I have been before. But it is useful, certainly."

\- "I would like you to take me with you when you build Harrenhall back up. I would like to see such splendor."

Harry smiled.

\- "If you're not too busy doing other things, then yeah, no problem. Now, I think the best thing is for me to put you under an invisibility spell until we are away from my room."

Tyrion nodded and they went outside, Night a few feet behind them.

Harry turned the spell off when they reached the courtyard, where it wouldn't be strange for them to be together. Night saw his brother and went immediately to Ghost, who just watched him with his head held up.

\- "Hey, Jon. Why are you not in the yard?"

Jon smiled at Harry and shrugged.

\- "Apparently a Prince must only be beaten up by trueborn swords." Jon said, and then he blushed when he saw Tyrion and bowed a bit. "Lord Tyrion."

\- "You're Ned Stark's bastard, aren't you?" Jon reddened a bit but nodded, lips tight. But Tyrion spoke again. "Sorry if I offended you, but you must not forget what you are, for certainly your enemies will never forget it. Make it your strength, and they will never be able to use it as a weakness."

\- "What do you know about being a bastard?" Jon asked, sullen.

\- "Dwarves are all bastards in their father's eyes," Tyrion said, a bit sadly.

\- "Then your father is the bastard," Harry answered to Tyrion, and he turned to Jon. "And you, stop wallowing, whatever your name is, what matters is what you do with it. Bastard or no bastard, you're my friend, and you will do great things."

Tyrion smirked.

\- "I feel Harry here is right, Jon. I believe in the end it will be Harry's friends that do great things, and no matter who is what other than that."

Jon sent the dwarf a strange look, and then watched Harry for a bit.

\- "You are really a strange person, Harry," Jon said.

\- "That is exactly what I said!" Tyrion exclaimed. Harry groaned as his two friends laughed together. Maester Luwin suddenly interrupted them.

\- "Jon, Lord and Lady Stark would like to see you in Lord Stark's study."

Jon raised an eyebrow. His father often spoke to him, but any planned meeting with Lady Stark was always a bad thing, he knew. But he went anyway, knowing already what they would say. He couldn't go south, and he couldn't stay here with only Lady Stark. He had decided, he wanted to go to the Wall. He would have preferred to stay with his father, and Arya, Sansa, Bran, Robb, baby Rickon, and Harry, who was the best friend he had ever had after Robb. But he couldn't. And even though what Harry had said of the Wall didn't seem particularly inviting, he had to go somewhere, didn't he?

They were waiting for him. Jon tried not to meet Lady Stark's gaze, he already knew what he would find there, only scorn and hate.

\- "Jon, I have spoken to the King this morning," Lord Stark said, startling Jon, who didn't see what his father could have said to the King that concerned him. "He has agreed to legitimate you, as long as you do not stand to inherit anything before your brothers and sisters."

Jon had dreamed to hear such a thing for so long that he thought for a second that he was dreaming again.

\- "But…" he said, looking at Lady Stark. He would have thought he would see rage, there, but there was only sadness, and something else, something that had never been for him, only for her own children.

\- "Jon," Catelyn said. "When I thought I had lost Bran, I realized how stupid I had been. You are as much Ned's child are any of my children. None of us is immortal, and you deserve a name. I would never wish any of my children dead, but if this atrocity ever came to pass, I would gladly see the Stark name in your hands."

It was more than Jon had ever hoped for. He had dreamed of it when he was a child, but… it was so very different to hear it spoken in truth, after he had given up this dream for so long.

\- "My Lady, I…"

\- "I hope you will forgive me one day, Jon, for what I have done to you all these years. And I know you will carry the name of your ancestors with all the honor of a Stark."

And slowly, she took him in her arms, as she had taken her children when they had been hurt. They stayed like this for a long time, Ned Stark watching them.

\- "I cannot say how happy I am, as a father and a husband, how proud and glad you make me both… Jon Stark."

\- "Jon Stark," Jon said, and it was alien to his mouth, so very different from his name. But it _was_ his name, now. His real, true, name.

And suddenly a wide grin appeared on his lips.

\- "Do my brothers and sisters know?" Jon asked, so happy he wanted to howl at the sky and jump and scream and tell everybody he had ever known.

\- "We thought we would leave the surprise to you", Lady Catlyn said, laughing with him now. "Go, tell them."

Jon grinned again, bowed quickly and left, trying not to run. He found Harry and Tyrion where he had left them.

Harry saw his grin and laughed.

\- "Jon Stark?" he asked.

\- "How could you possibly know?" Jon asked, laughing again.

\- "I have my ways," Harry answered. They laughed together, and Tyrion joined in. He had seen the way Harry had grinned like a fool after Jon had left, and had guessed that whatever was happening was of his doing. And now Jon the bastard was a Stark, and even if he would always have difficulties because of his birth, he was a Snow no more.

Tyrion had understood something, watching Harry. He was the kind of person who would help his friends however he could. And he had no doubt Harry would never tell Jon what he had done. Or how he had done it, for that matter. But it didn't matter. Tyrion was happy for Jon, and for Harry, and somehow, he had the feeling that things would be all right, because he was Harry's friend too, and Harry would help him as he helps his friends, as he had helped little Bran without asking for anything in return, and as he had helped Jon Stark.

\- "Now, come, let's go tell the others," Harry said, pointing down where Robb and Prince Joffrey were fighting.

They went down the stairs, and found Arya watching the fight.

\- "Jon, why are you grinning like a fool? That's Harry's thing," the little pest said, and Harry grinned at her. She was really one of his favorite Starks. Well, after Jon, now, of course.

\- "Arya… Father made me a Stark."

Arya fell off the ladder she was sitting on, stood up again, and jumped to her brother's neck with a scream of happiness so high that nobody could have ignored it in all of Winterfell.

Jon laughed with her, turning around so her feet would fly.

\- "Arya, what is it? Jon?" Bran asked, now standing beside Harry. Robb had also stopped fighting, and him, the prince and Theon Greyjoy had come forth.

\- "The King has… agreed to… make me…" Jon started, out of breath. "a Stark."

\- "And you think that gives you the right to interrupt my time of training, Bastard?" Joffrey asked, sneering at Jon.

Tyrion was about to say something, but Harry beat him to it.

\- "My Prince, I must apologize for my friend, he obviously had no idea who he was interrupting. Please, come, I have something interesting to tell you."

Tyrion watched with curiosity Harry lead Joffrey a few meters from the group, with his guard dog Clegane following them.

\- "Of course I'm after the girls in the order of succession, but that does not matter," Jon said, distracting Tyrion. He saw that all the Starks wore happy grins, and that this was obviously a loving family. He wondered what it would be like to grow up like that, loved and loving. He would never know it. Only Theon Greyjoy appeared dismayed, but he covered it quite well.

And then Harry came back, alone. Tyrion sent him a look and Harry smirked.

\- "Your nephew will not pester anyone for a while," he whispered.

\- "You did not hurt him, did you?"

\- "Oh, no, don't worry. I just scared him a little bit."

Tyrion swallowed. The look on Harry's face was amused and contented, and a bit cruel, too. However, he knew Joffrey had deserved it. In the two weeks they had been at Winterfell, he had already beaten two servants half to death, raped three others, and ordered a page whipped for "stealing" a fruit. The boy was a tyrant, and if he ever became king…

He just hopped that whatever he had done did not fall back on Harry.

At the feast that night it was announced that Ned Stark had accepted the title of Hand of the King, and just after that that King Robert had made Jon Snow a Stark, last in order of succession, but still a Stark. People whispered, but Tyrion noticed that Joffrey did not. He was watching his plate and not speaking much to anyone.

For the first time Jon was seated at the high table, right beside Harry in fact, and a few seats from Tyrion. The two black haired boys spoke together all night. After a while Tyrion heard Sansa and Joffrey talking.

Joffrey did not know what had happened to him. He had insulted his dog earlier, and suddenly he had felt sad and tired. Then he had punished a servant who wasn't unfastening his belt fast enough, and he had felt fearful and hurt. And then he had taken Myrcella and Tommen's dolls, telling them how stupid they were to still play with such things, and he had felt angry at himself, scared, and even hated himself for a while. He didn't know what was happening. But now he was speaking to Sansa, and every time he told her a compliment, he felt happy inside, a light he had never felt burning in his chest. When he smiled at her or told her how nice she looked, she blushed, and he felt a pride and a new happiness. He kept talking to her all night, and after a while he felt so happy, enjoying himself, talking to her about the red keep, and King's Landing, and all the good things of the capital, he didn't think he had ever been this happy in his life. And after all, maybe what was happening wasn't so bad.

Tyrion watched his nephew and wondered what Harry could have done to the boy. He was grinning, talking about things, and seemed genuinely happy, not by hurting someone, but by making someone else happy. He found Harry alone later, one of the "tobacco" things in his mouth outside, the air clearly warmer around him.

\- "Tell me, what did you do to Joffrey?"

\- "He did seem to really enjoy himself tonight, didn't he?" Harry answered with a smirk.

\- "Please tell me you didn't interchange him with someone else."

Harry laughed.

\- "I did much better, I think. Joffrey was a little shit because he had never felt bad about anything he ever did, and had never really felt what he did either."

\- "Well, he is a Prince."

\- "Yes. So I cursed him so that he feels whatever he makes the people around him feel. If he insults you, he hurts. And if he makes you happy, he is happy."

Tyrion's eyes widened.

\- "That is… the best thing anyone could ever have done for him, and for the Kingdom."

Harry grinned.

\- "Why, thanks. But it will wear off eventually. Do you know he's not Robert's son?"

It was said so calmly, Tyrion had to stare at the boy.

\- "What?"

\- "Oh, yes, Joffrey isn't a Baratheon. I'm not absolutely sure who his real father is, but his name is "Joffrey Waters", technically. Tommen and Myrcella, too."

\- "How… how could you ever be sure of that?"

Harry grinned, picked a small branch on the floor, put it on his hand and spoke.

\- "**Point me Tyrion Lannister**."

The branch turned once and pointed to Tyrion.

\- "It only works with the real name of a person. Look. **Point me** **Jon Snow**."

The branch started to turn around and didn't stop.

\- "Since Jon's name has been changed now, his real name is Jon Stark. **Point me Jon Stark**." The branch turned again, but stopped to point inside the room. "Now, if I do this. **Point me Joffrey Baratheon**." The branch started to turn around, and didn't stop. "**Point me Joffrey Waters**." This time, the branch stopped, pointing inside the room again. "It doesn't matter what everyone thinks your name is, this will only point to the real name. If there are two people with the same name, it will point the nearest one, or you can add characteristics, or titles. This is where it becomes a bit confusing. If I say "**Point me the Prince**", for example, it will point to the nearest person everyone considers a Prince, because titles are not real, they depend on what everyone thinks of you, while names are real, they're part of you. They can be changed, but you have to decide to change them, as Jon did, and be aware of the change. If there was a decree saying 'Joffrey Waters is now Joffrey Baratheon', then that would be his name, but of course there couldn't be."

\- "And you have not told anyone of this?"

Tyrion knew, of course, the only man whose son Joffrey could be, if he was no Baratheon. But that would be the ruin of his family, and even if he didn't much like his sister or his nephew, he couldn't let them get slaughtered.

\- "I have learned enough of the Seven Kingdoms to know there would be a War if it was learned. That's why I erased Bran's memory of him seeing your brother and sister in bed together, and of your brother pushing him off the tower. And that's why I planted the idea into your brother and sister that Bran was no threat and would never remember.

Tyrion's eyes widened. His brother? Jaime wouldn't… But Jaime loved Cersei, and… If they were discovered together… Yes, he might have done it.

\- "But don't you want revenge? Or justice? I would have thought you…"

\- "I like the Starks, but I am not one of them," Harry said. "I despise war, and I will do anything I can to prevent it from happening. Bran was hurt, but he is okay now, and I shall protect the Starks so that nothing bad happens to them again. But I am not honorable, not as you Westerosi imagine honor. In my land honor is very different from what it is here, and lying is part of a wizard's life. Where I come from there are no privileges. Every child learns to read and write, and the King has no power. Instead there are elected officials who rule over the people with their agreement. The title Lord still exists, but it is a remnant of another era. I was from a noble family, but I had no more right than any rich man. So I don't believe in a right to rule passed down from father to son and could not care less who Joffrey's real father is."

\- "These are such strange concepts, I cannot imagine them."

\- "It is very different indeed. In the country I come from any child can dream of becoming the ruler and then be elected to become this ruler, if he is clever and charismatic enough for it."

\- "But is it really better?"

\- "Yes, on most parts. But it could not be done in a few years. Maybe in a hundred, it could be possible. But even then, it is not quite perfect. Well, I shall try and see how it goes in Harrenhall."

\- "You are speaking of a revolution," Tyrion said.

\- "Oh, no, nothing like that. But tell me, as a Lord, can I order children to come to a school if I built one?"

\- "Yes, of course. But why?"

\- "Once your people are educated, they can understand themselves better. After only twenty years, every adult will be able to read and write, and count. Some can learn how to create better instruments to farm the land."

\- "Like what?"

Harry smiled.

\- "Well, you will have to see, won't you? How many children between six and twelve do you think there are in my domain?"

\- "Somewhere around two thousand?"

\- "Do you think people would agree to send them if I offered a free meal at midday for any that come? And maybe clothes, too."

Tyrion laughed.

\- "Of course. But how on earth could you ever do that? Even with all the gold in the world, you would have to raise taxes to have enough food."

Harry simply grinned at him.

\- "Lord Stark, may I talk to you?"

The guards had let him enter, this time, as he was now a "Lord". Harry had knocked anyway and stuck his head inside the study.

\- "Yes, Harry, come in. What is it?"

\- "I had a question… It's a bit complicated."

\- "Well, sit, and speak freely."

Harry sat and sent the strongest privacy wards he had around the study.

\- "So, I was wondering what you intended to do with Jon."

Ned frowned.

\- "I do not know, Harry. Although he is a Stark, now, it probably will not be possible to have him become one Rob's bannermen. And what could be the reason to take him at court with us? But even if he stays here, he will always be in his brother's shadow, and that is not what I wish for him."

\- "Well… I was thinking of something, but please don't take offense if you think I'm being presumptuous. I will need a guard at Harrenhall, apparently, that is what Lords do. So, I was thinking, he could come south with us, and in a year or two, when he becomes a Knight, he can become the captain of my guard, or something of the sort. I'm not quite sure what kind of work titles there are, but well. I wanted to ask him, but I thought of putting the idea to you first, and here I am. Of course, he would still be free to refuse or to quit my service if he wanted, and I've never even had a guard or anything, but…"

\- "Harry, you are rambling," Ned interrupted with a smile. Harry blushed. "What you propose is certainly a very good option for Jon, and if he so desires, I would be happy to see him become a Knight of Harrenhall."

\- "Thank you, I shall ask him if he will consider it, then. Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask you something else, but I completely forgot."

Ned nodded, looking at the boy.

\- "So, I need a sigil, and since I do have a direwolf, I was wondering if it would bother you if I used a wolf as my sigil. It would be black on a green field, so there would be no way of ever mistaking one for the other."

\- "I would feel honored that you used a wolf, Harry. I am quite sure that you will do it proud. And have you chosen words too?"

\- "Yes, they are my father's words. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

\- "It is certainly appropriate for Harrenhall," Ned answered. "Yes."

\- "I was thinking… I mean, you know, I'm not really a Lord of the Seven Kingdoms to begin with, and I feel quite bad about the treachery, because if I had not been highborn his Grace would not have made me Lord in the first place…"

\- "Harry, you are as highborn as anyone I have ever known. Certainly, you are a bit strange, but I am sure you will be a good Lord. Do not worry about it."

\- "Thank you, Lord Stark. I will go and ask Jon, then."

Harry found Jon exiting Maester Luwin's tower after his lessons.

\- "Jon, can I talk to you?"

\- "Of course", Jon said, following Harry to his room.

\- "So, I was thinking… " Harry began, then he blushed and sat down on his bed. "Well, you're my friend, and I didn't want to leave you here, and I know that what I told you of the Wall didn't quite motivate you to go there as you once wished. So, I thought… you know, I am Lord of Harrenhall, now. Apparently I have men in the south, but I don't know any of them. So, I thought you could become a Knight, and then you would be captain of my guard, or something of the sort."

Jon was watching him, now, and Harry blushed again.

\- "Harry, do you have any idea what you are offering?"

Harry bit his lips but looked up at Jon's serious face.

\- "Well, not really. I know I'm no knight, and you're much better at leading men and all those things. Tyrion says I have something like four thousand men at arms, and I have not the first idea what to do with them. You have been taught alongside Robb, you know as much of leading as he does. You can teach me and lead my men and protect my lands against bad people and stuff."

Jon suddenly laughed, and Harry answered by pouting.

\- "If you don't want to, you don't need to laugh at me," Harry said, a bit sadly.

Jon immediately stopped laughing.

\- "Oh, Harry! I'm not laughing because I don't want what you're offering me! It's just… you know exactly what you are offering, and at the same time not at all. You understand the honor you're granting me, but you think nothing of it, and at the same time you have absolutely no idea what I will be doing. It's quite funny, really. But of course, Harry! Of course I want to become a Knight and captain of your guard!

\- Really? Wow, that's great! I uh… I've asked your father if it was alright, I didn't want you to know if he was about to say no, but he said that if you wanted it then it was okay.

\- Wow… I'm going to be a knight!

\- And I won't have to learn how to rule an army!

The two boys looked at each other, grinning like fools.

**End of chapter 2!**

**So, what did you think?**

**Feel free to leave a review ^^**

**Ferz**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry for being late, I just had a very bad case of acute laziness and couldn't bring myself to correct my chapter TT**

**Thank you all for the incredible response to this fic! More than a hundred reviews now! You're great!**

**To answer your main questions/remarks:**

**Sorry about all the - "...", I didn't know that wasn't how it was done in english. That is the correct way to do it in french, and even though I read a lot in english, I guess old habits die hard. I've tried to correct it this time, but it is really hard to think about it while typing... So, well, hopefully this time it's better ^^**

**Also, thanks to BlakeM.D for the longest review ever.**

**Some of you have mentioned that Harry's friendship with Tyrion was a bit out of the blue. The thing is, Harry is not part of House Stark, even though he does have friends amongst them. He likes them, yes, but he has not stayed with them more than a few weeks, and is not aware of their enmity against House Lannister. So he has no former prejudice against our favourite dwarf. More than that, he doesn't have a lot of friends at all, and he really wants to understand the court better, something he knows Lord Stark won't have time explaining and the other Starks don't know. Finally, Harry is an impulsive person, and he does impulsive things, part of it because he can in fact erase the memory of everyone if he really needs to, and he decided that he liked Tyrion. Let me remind you that HP befriended Luna and Hermione, both of which nobody wanted to be friends which, and does have a liking for "bastards, cripples and broken things", even if it's unconscious.**

**Hopefully, that explained that!**

**Also, some people have mentioned that Lady Whent was alive, and so Harry could not be made Lord of Harrenhall. I am aware of the fact that in cannon she does not die until later on, but I dediced to change it in this fic and indicated it last chapter (if you don't believe me, you can check, Jon mentions "the late lady Whent" the day after the feast ^^). But, just so everyone is clear, no, the King did not evict the Lady from her seat, she died without heirs just before the trip North.**

**Now, to the chapter!**

**Chapter 3:**

_Previously__: Harry was found by the Starks alongside the direwolves pups, stayed with them for a few weeks then went travelling to find magic. He was called back from Skagos by Ned when Bran fell and healed him. The King, drunk, made him Lord of Harrenhall to spite his wife, and they are now departing Winterfell._

They departed Winterfell the next day. Harry promised to come back with news every few days, and every one was quite happy. He even said he would bring Ned and the children back sometimes so they could spend time with Catlyn and their brothers. Everyone was much less depressed after that. Ned offered Harry a horse, since he didn't have one, again, and they started their travel amongst the King's party.

Most of the time Harry rode with Tyrion and Jon, and Bran and Arya too. At first Harry ached from the travels. He couldn't really use warming spells, because anyone could notice that he was the only one in the whole column not covered in snow. And he had never really learnt to ride a horse for a long period of time. It was extremely different from riding a broom, and he had never ridden a broom for days on end. So he ached, he was tired and cold, and it seemed he was the only one to suffer, which seemed to worsen it all. Even Bran was confortable riding from sunrise to sundown, and the boy was eight! Harry knew it wasn't very nice, but he would have been much happier if everyone had been suffering as he was.

The only good part was that at least they camped very comfortably, Lord Stark having invited Harry to camp with him and his children. The servants always rode first when night came near and prepared everything for the party's arrival. The slowness of it all was also maddening. Even the King was tired of it. The Queen's great carriage moved sluggishly and got stuck in what seemed like every smallest hole in the road. After a week of travel Harry got finally used to riding all day. He still ached at night but it was much more bearable. After that he and Jon, sometimes with Tyrion when he didn't ride with the Queen, explored the lands surrounding the road, finding beautiful half frozen waterfalls or small villages and beautiful snowy landscapes.

One day Harry and Jon found Arya fighting with the butcher's son, Mikah.

Harry heard the sound of wood clashing on wood first. They had gotten a bit lost in the forest, although they were both quite capable of finding their way back to the King's Road if needed.

Harry asked, "What do you think it is?"

"Some boys playing with sticks, probably," Jon answered.

They entered the clearing to find Arya and a boy they didn't know fighting. Arya was distracted by their arrival and the boy hit her on the shoulder. She winced, the boy reddened and panicked when he saw them.

"Arya, what are you doing?" Jon asked.

"I'm learning to fight." She said stubbornly.

"Father wouldn't like it." Jon answered.

"Oh, leave her be, Jon. I, for one, believe that girls are quite capable of learning how to fight. I had a friend, once, she could have taken your sword before you even blinked." Harry grinned at Arya.

"Really? Will you teach me?"

"Arya," Harry said with a patronizing tone, her face immediately saddening "you know as well as I do that I would be the worst teacher to ever exist, as I am probably worst than you at sword fighting." This made Arya grin again.

"And what about you, boy, you want to be a knight?"

The boy reddened and bowed.

"I'm sorry, my Lord," he said, "I…"

"It's quite alright. I would wager the little monster made you fight," Harry said. Then he looked at Arya. "Listen, Arya. You are not a man, and you will never be as strong as a man." Before Arya started to answer, Harry stopped her by raising his hand. "But that doesn't mean that you can't beat a man, it just means that you have to learn another way of fighting. When I was in Skagos, I heard that in the east they have fighters who don't use longswords as knights do, but fight faster and with more grace than any knight. I am sure that a teacher of such arts could be found for you in King's Landing. If you want, I can come with you and Jon to speak to your father about this. I have a few convincing arguments to make."

Arya seemed so eager she might jump higher than the top of the trees. Harry grinned.

"But that doesn't mean that I have to stop training with Micah," she said.

Harry frowned a bit.

"Listen, Arya… Jon and I are your friends, but there are those, here and in King's Landing, who are not. What would happen if someone other than us had found you fighting with your friend? Some Lannister guardsmen?" Harry paused, watching her. "I will tell you. He would have thought the boy was really attacking you, or he might just say that afterwards, it makes no difference. Then he would have hurt your friend. What would you have done then?"

"I would have defended Micah!" Arya proclaimed.

"I believe you would have tried, Arya. But you are not trained yet, and he might have really hurt you. And then Nymeria might have attacked him. Afterwards, he would say that your wolf attacked him out of nowhere. You know the Lannisters dislike the direwolves. The Queen would have said they are too dangerous to let alive, and the King might have let her slay them all, Nymeria, Lady, Ghost, Night and Bran's unnamed wolf too."

Arya was pale, now, and looking at Night, Ghost and Nymeria with horror.

"But Micah is my friend. And they wouldn't hurt anyone."

"I know that, and you know that, but the Lannisters won't care, your enemies won't care. So you must not give them any way to hurt you like this. Keep playing with Micah, but play at other games, not ones that could be seen badly. And then we will speak to your father and see what he has to say in King's Landing. Alright?"

Arya looked at him for a while, then she nodded.

"Come, Micah, we can play hide and seek," she said.

Harry grinned as the children left Jon and him alone in the clearing.

"That was incredible," Jon said suddenly.

Harry turned to him, startled.

"What? Why?"

"In a few minutes, you talked Arya out of training at sword fighting with a butcher's boy and taught her to be wary of the Lannisters."

"Do you really think it wrong for her to learn to fight?"

Jon thought about if for a moment, then answered, "no, not really. She is better than most boys her age, and with a bow too. And I think you're right about learning a different style of fighting. I simply agree with you that it's reckless of her to fight with her friend like this."

Harry smiled. Yes, Jon was clever, and kind too. He might loose some of his backwards prejudices sooner than Harry had thought.

Travelling was so _slow_, Harry was bored out of his mind after two weeks. He had taken Jon and Tyrion both to the Wall, spoken with Bran and Tommen and even Joffrey, followed the King's few hunting explorations, but he was bored. So when Tyrion came to him, Harry would have done almost anything to escape his boredom.

"With this dreadful carriage my sister insists on riding in, we should be at the crossroad's in by the middle of next week. But for someone who would go faster, it is only a day away.

"Oh?"

"Yes. So, I was thinking, you wouldn't happen to have a way to ride very fast for more than two people? Without a horse, perhaps?"

Harry thought about it, then grinned.

"I might. Why?"

"The Inn is just a two days ride away from Harrenhall."

That interested Harry greatly.

"Oh! That's a great idea. But how will we explain our absence?"

"I thought we might say we rode to the Inn to wait there. My sister will certainly not be saddened by my absence."

Harry grinned.

"We will go with Jon, if he agrees."

They left the next morning, riding with just two Lannister guardsmen and Tyrion's squire, a boy named Podrick Pane, followed by Night and Ghost. Harry signaled to stop the horses once they were out of sight of the main party.

He jumped off his own horse and Tyrion and Jon did the same.

Watching the three men, Harry spoke, "we will stay here. You will ride to the Crossroad Inn with our horses and get rooms for us. There is nothing strange about this, and you will not speak of it to anyone."

Harry had placed a strong compulsion charm on the three men. They took the horses and left. Before they did so Harry placed an illusion of Tyrion, him and Jon on the three horses.

"How are we going to travel, then?" Tyrion asked, as excited as a child. Jon had ridden Harry's broom with Harry too, when they had gone to the Wall, but it was much too small for the three of them to ride together.

Harry searched his pouch for a moment, took a miniature motorcycle out of it and placed it on the ground. Then he tapped it with his finger and let it expand back to its original size. Sirius's bike, perfect.

Tyrion and Jon were looking at it with wide eyes.

"This is called a motorcycle. It belonged to a friend of mine. The original thing is not magical; it uses technology and is perfectly usable by any man or woman. However my friend tweaked it a bit, and now it can also fly and turn invisible. Tyrion, I think you will be more confortable in the side car," Harry said, pointing to the thing. He helped Tyrion get in and stuck his feet to the ground. Then he jumped on the bike and tapped the seat behind him for Jon to follow. They must have looked very strange, with Jon's sword falling off one side of the bike, and their capes behind them. Harry refrained from laughing.

"What about Night and Ghost?"

"Night is used to me levitating him when I travel by flying. We will see what Ghost's reaction is. If he doesn't agree with it, we will leave him here and I will pick him up as soon as we arrive."

In the end Ghost was a bit startled but came along just fine. Harry turned both wolves invisible, because he didn't want people thought mad because they said they had seen a giant flying wolf or two.

He turned the bike on, happy that it ran on magic and not on gas or he would have been in trouble. Tyrion and Jon were both tense beside him, but Harry simply grinned and started to drive on the road. Once he was going fast enough he pressed the flight button and took off. Only then did he turn them invisible. Sirius had been clever enough to make it so they could still see the bike and each other, which was very useful.

"So, I follow the road until I find the Inn, and then south and a bit west, is that right?" Harry asked.

"Yes", Tyrion said, looking everywhere. They were going fast, a good 150 kilometers per hour, and reached the Inn less than 2 hours later.

"Follow the road to Darry," Tyrion said.

"You said the King's party will only arrive here in a week", Jon said. "It didn't seem like such a long way."

"Oh, but it is. Even by horse, my men won't be there until tomorrow at this time. We are going faster than anything I have ever seen, except of course Harry's way of travel."

Harry was grinning, and following the road.

"When will we arrive, do you think?" Harry asked a while later.

"If we keep this pace, in less than an hour, certainly."

"Good. I've brought some things to eat, so maybe we can have a pick-nick? And then I would have liked to find out the limits of my domain, if you're not too tired of riding on the bike."

Jon and Tyrion both seemed to agree that they wouldn't tire soon of riding through the clouds, especially since Harry's magic kept them warm and safe.

They were getting out of the white mist of a cloud when they saw it. Harrenhall, the biggest fortress ever built by men. On the road amongst the King's party Tyrion had tried to describe it to Harry, but no words could explain the magnitude of the thing. The curtain walls were massive, obscuring everything inside them except the five highest towers. The walls themselves were as high as mountain cliffs, and as large as any house Harry had ever seen. Harry had been impressed by Winterfell's size, but compared to this gigantic castle it could have been a farm.

"Wow" Harry said.

Even mostly destroyed by dragonfire and numerous centuries, the fortress was immense. The curtain walls, while eroded by time, were in good condition. Obviously, dragonfire had not touched them. Harry directed the bike to fly over the half ruin, inspecting it from up high.

Other than the five towers, there were buildings, a Great Hall, gigantic edifices Harry couldn't have named from their position. Tyrion pointed to them, naming some, these were kitchens, twice as large as Hogwart's Great Hall, those were stables, and had once upon a time housed a thousand horses.

It was bigger than any castle Harry had ever heard of. It seemed built by giants.

Looking at it all, Harry estimated he would need at least a week to repair it, even with the help of the Elder Wand. But first, he would have to do the actual hardest part, the illusion. That wouldn't take as long, but it would be harder. However it would be much easier than what he had anticipated. Because of the sheer tallness of the curtain walls, from the ground outside Harrenhall one could only see the five towers, which meant that he would only have to place an illusion on those, and some courtyards inside perhaps. That would be much easier than placing an illusion on all of it.

They landed in an empty field near the fortress, and Harry erected invisibility shields before deactivating the bike's.

Harry turned to his friends as they dismounted the bike, "Okay, as long as you don't go too far, nobody can see us."

He then turned the wolves visible again and flew them to the ground, so they might run around freely.

"Invisibility is really one of your most useful talents," Tyrion said, looking around.

Harry grinned.

From his pouch he took different plates of food he had laced with preservation charms.

As they ate and drank, Harry had brought some wine too, out of a flagon he had enchanted while he travelled so that it would always stay full, they spoke.

"So this is how you intend to feed the children?" Tyrion said.

"What children?" Jon asked, eyebrow raised.

"I want to educate my people, seeing as I am supposed to rule over them, I would rather not rule over morons. I will open a school, with teachers, so that every child can learn to read and write, and learn mathematics and history and other things. I have not decided what yet. I will offer free meals for the children and warm clothes, too. But no, I didn't create this food, that is a feat even magic can't achieve. I just put it in my pouch for safekeeping on the journey. By the way, Tyrion, do you know how long the road is from the farthest village on my lands to Harrenhall?"

"Walking, a day or so, I would say. On horseback, less than six hours."

"Ah, that might be a problem. Are there roads to every village?"

"Normally, yes, although it is your job to make sure they are safe and kept usable. I believe Lady Whent left most of her domain go to quite a waste."

"That will have to be changed. If I buy horses I can have carriages pick the children up from each village to bring them here, and then bring them back. Do you think the people will be against it?"

"They will probably see the use for their children to learn reading and such things, but will they trust their children to the roads? I do not know." Tyrion said.

"I will have armed men accompany the children, if need be. So, there are people in Harrenhall right now?"

"Yes, of course. The Lady Whent had a Castellan, certainly, and he must have heard the news of your nomination, I would think. He must await you, and your men with him."

"Do you think they will obey me? I am young, and they don't know me."

"You are rich, Harry. Double each soldier's pension, they will all be yours."

"That's a good idea, actually. What else?"

"Well, the fact that you will appear without horses or guards will seem quite suspicious, even with us by your side," Jon said.

"Do you think? If needed, I can transfigure some horses for a little while, an hour or so. It's complicated, and a bit tiring. And there is the problem of relocating the soldiers and the people living in Harrenhall while I repair it."

"Could you not tell them that you are a magician?" Jon asked.

"It would be learned in King's Landing almost immediately," Tyrion said.

"I have a way of making sure a man keeps my secrets," Harry said, thinking. "Yes, that might work. Oh, yes! "

As Jon and Tyrion watched Harry took a scroll of parchment and a quill out of his pouch and started to write.

_"__I swear to serve Harry Potter loyally until I tell him otherwise in person and never share his secrets with one who doesn't know them."_

"What will that do?" Jon asked.

"When I have enchanted it, any who puts his blood on the parchment willingly will have to obey it. It is more than an oath, because you can betray an oath, but this makes you unable to disobey it. If the parchment is destroyed or if you did not enter the pact willingly, then and only then you can disobey."

"So even torture and bribery will not work?" Tyrion asked.

"Yes. But it couldn't work for you, sorry, it needs to have something to do with a wizard, so with me, since I'm the only one here, because it feeds off my magic. It's very little, I won't even feel it, but it still does."

"But why don't you write that they must always serve you loyally?"

"Because I don't wish to have slaves, or to go against someone's will. If they decide they want to go away, then it's their decision. If they decide they want to betray me, that's different. You understand?"

Jon and Tyrion both nodded.

"So, we go to the gates on fake horses, announce ourselves, and I take my post as Lord of Harrenhall. Then I tell every man, woman and child that they need to sign this if they want to stay in my employ. How many people do you think there are in the castle?"

"Around 50 servants, and 400 men at arms." Tyrion said. "At least that was the number when Lady Whent was alive."

"Okay. Tyrion, I'm sorry, but since I'm young, I don't want these people to assume that you have… control over me…" Harry said, grimacing. "Sorry, no way to say that kindly. I think I should talk with the Castellan with only Jon with me."

"I agree, Harry, do not worry, we are friends, and I can understand such things quite well. I will go take a bath while you speak to your men and servants and make your little speech."

Harry smiled at Tyrion.

"Thank you. I have a spell that can tell me if there is anyone in a certain area. So once I make sure everyone has signed, I will explain that I am a wizard. I will not speak of the other world stuff, or the fact that I can't really die, and I won't go into specifics about my powers, but I will say that I will use them to make the region prosper and to built Harrenhall back up."

"Do mention that you are a healer, too, Harry. They will like that," Tyrion said.

"I will, then."

They rode to the main gate on their fake horses. Harry had transfigured the horses out of rocks, and they were beautiful and imposing. The three of them looked quite lordly, up there, with Ghost and Night in front of them.

"Who comes at the gates?" asked a guard standing on one side of the drawbridge.

"I am Harry Potter, Lord of Harrenhall, and these are my companions, Jon Stark and Tyrion Lannister."

The man stepped away immediately; obviously they had been heard of his appointment. On their horses the three men crossed the gigantic walls. They were so large that they passed 12 murder holes before exiting the strange tunnel. Even the courtyard they found was vast, and mostly empty too. A small man arrived, out of breath, just a few minutes after they had given their horses to the Master of Horses.

"My Lords," the small man bowed, "I am Albert Krane, councellor to the late Lady Whent, and Castellan of this Castle since her death."

"Ser Albert," Harry said, "I am Harry Potter, Lord of Harrenhall by the grace of the King. May I present my companions, Jon Stark and Tyrion Lannister?"

The small man bowed again.

"Yes, I have already met Lord Tyrion, My Lord. Lord Jon looks remarkably like his father."

"Thank you, Ser," Jon answered.

"My Lord, have you had a long journey? Rooms can be made available at once. I am deeply sorry for not greeting you sooner, we were not expecting you so soon."

"It is quite alright. We left the King's party not long ago. I believe Lord Tyrion wanted some rest and a bath, but I would like to speak to you," Harry said.

The man nodded and signaled for two servants.

"You will show our guest Lord Lannister to his chambers." said the Castellan. The two servants nodded and left with Tyrion waddling behind them.

"If it pleases my Lord, we can speak in the late Lady Whent's study."

Harry nodded and Jon and him followed the little man.

The study was old and dirty, and quite damp as well, although it was bigger than most rooms in Winterfell. Harry would have to clean all these things up.

"Ser Albert," Harry started once the three of them were seated and the servant had left, "I do not know you and you do not know me. I would like for you to stay here at my service in Harrenhall, because the people, my people now, know you, and the known is always reassuring. However, I will not keep you here against your will. If you wish to leave my service, I will not hold it against you, and will pay you whatever pension you and Lady Whent had agreed upon."

The old man looked at him.

"May I speak freely, My Lord?"

"When we are alone or with Jon, always", Harry answered.

The old man nodded, as if that meant something more than what Harry had said.

"When the first raven arrived here from the King, with orders to prepare for your arrival, I was disquieted. You are quite young, and if I understand it correctly, you are not from a very prominent noble family, even in the North. I was afraid you would be one of these brash young men that I see all day, who will fight anyone who dares insult them, who will foolishly spend their money for everything but their people, or something of the sort. But you are not, and I see it now. The fact that you offered me my liberty, and payment for services not to you but to your people, mean a lot. The fact that you are willing to hear my counsels means a lot more. I will stay, if it pleases you."

Harry had listened attentively, but he smiled then to the old man.

"Yes. I am happy to find someone who will be able to tell me what I have to know. I have a lot of things to discuss with you, but first I must have something of you. It is perhaps not quite done this way in this land, but if I must have only one extravagance, I would wish it to be this one. Jon?"

Harry had given the scroll to Jon after enchanting it, so that he would not have to take it out of his pouch in front of the people of the castle.

Harry took the scroll and opened it.

"In my land," Harry explained, showing what was written, "when someone promises something to someone else, they do so in writing. Then the person who promises cuts his finger and signs with a touch of blood. Will you allow this?"

The old man nodded. They had some things of the sort; it was not so uncommon in the south, for marriage agreements for example. He cut his finger open gently and placed it just under the written words.

Once the blood had dried, Harry nodded and Jon took back the scroll.

"Well, now we have a few things to discuss. Do you know why King Robert made me Lord of Harrenhall?"

"The raven said you had saved Lord Stark's son."

Harry smiled.

"Yes, that is true. Jon's brother Bran fell from a tower in Winterfell. His spine was broken and, if he had lived, he would never have walked again. I healed him."

Ser Albert raised an eyebrow, looking very doubtful. Harry smiled, gently took his hand where he had pricked his finger, and sent his magic to heal the cut. The man looked, astonished, as his finger healed suddenly, leaving perfect skin behind.

"So, I healed him," Harry continued. "His Grace only made me part of his court, but the Queen angered him by implying that Bran's life wasn't worth that much, and he answered by making me the Lord of Harrenhall." Harry paused, looking at his own hands. "If I was just a healer, I would probably make quite a bad Lord. I cannot use a sword even if my life depends on it, I don't know much about politics, or economy, and I have grand ideals that will probably take decades to achieve. But, fortunately, I am not just a healer. I have other powers, although the King is not aware of them. He might feel frightened by them, if he knew, and since I have absolutely no desire for the Iron Throne, I would rather not fight him. If you want any proof of these powers, call a servant in."

Ser Albert went to the door, a little frightened, and opened it, calling a servant. A boy entered, younger than Jon. He bowed to Harry and Jon.

"Tell the boy what I have just said," Harry ordered Ser Albert.

"Our Lord has… requested a flask of wine."

The boy bowed and left.

Ser Albert looked at Harry, uncomprehending.

"My tongue would not speak the words. How is this possible?"

"The parchment you have just signed was enchanted. You will have to obey it. You will not be able to share any of my secrets, and you will have to act loyally to me until you decide to quit my service."

"I see… So you intend to make everyone in the castle sign this parchment?"

"Yes, exactly. I have other powers, too, but, well, you shall see them tomorrow. Now, I want to speak to everyone in the Castle, even the poorest kitchen wench. I will tell them that I have decided to double their pay, but need to count them, and this is why I need everyone's signature. They will need to know what they sign for, and as I assume most of them cannot read, I will speak to them first."

"My Lord, as your advisor, I must tell you that there is not much money in the coffers."

"I did tell you that I have magical powers, right?" Harry asked with a grin.

The man nodded.

"Very well. I will address the people in half an hour, will you have time to find them all?"

"Yes, My Lord. If it pleases you, the Great Hall is big enough to host everyone twice."

"Perfect. How do I find my way there?"

Ser Albert opened the door of the study, and there was a servant waiting there.

"My Lord, this is Aldric, he will be your personal servant, if he pleases you?"

"Yes. Aldric? Will you show us to the Great Hall?"

"Yes, My Lord," the servant answered. He was in his early twenties, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He looked nice enough, and brought them to the Hall quickly, even though he eyed the two wolves with some fright.

It was really immense. It was bigger than Winterfell's Great Hall, maybe four times as big, and airily empty. People were waiting in front of the main doors, they could hear them, but Aldric showed them another way in, so that Harry could enter the Hall before his people.

There was a very big black chair in the middle of the dais, and Harry guessed it was supposed to be his.

"Thank you, Aldric. You can go wait with the others."

The man bowed and left.

Harry looked around, then transfigured a piece of broken glass into a table, which he put on the right of the room. When the doors opened some time later, he was ready. Ser Albert entered first, and Harry gestured for him to stand at the table. All his people entered afterwards, servants and men at arms, guards and kitchen wenches.

Harry greeted them on his feet, but right in front of his seat so that there could be no mistake as to who he was. Night and Ghost stood guard on each side of him, and Jon to his right.

When everyone had entered he sent his spell. Outside the room there was only one human, and he guessed it must be Tyrion. A man came to greet him, and Harry recognized a Maester by his chain. He nodded to the man but did not speak for some time.

"People of Harrenhall," Harry called. "I am Harry Potter, Lord of this castle by the grace of his Grace King Robert Baratheon, First of his name, for services rendered to the Crown. You do not know me, but I will try my best to be a good Lord to all my people. As I take my seat in this Great Hall, I need to know exactly who works here, how many people are at my service. I am not a southerner. Where I come from we write down our oaths and sign them in blood. This is the oath I would like you all to sign. "_"I swear to serve Harry Potter loyally until I tell him otherwise in person and never share his secrets with one who doesn't know them." _Each person who signs this will see his or her pension doubled. If you do not wish to swear your loyalty to me, you must leave Harrenhall at once. Ser Albert will call upon you and write your name on the scroll. You will then cut your finger and press the blood in front of your name. Every child over the age of five must sign this. Once you have signed it, please wait on the other side of the room and do not depart, for I have important information to give to you." Harry paused, looking at the crowd he was supposed to rule. "I, Harry Potter, do swear to serve Harrenhall as its Lord and to make its people prosper."

Harry sat down on his high seat as everyone in the room bowed. It was a very strange feeling, knowing these people were his to command and his to protect.

Harry then watched as Ser Albert first called the Knights at his service. They would tell their name, Albert would write it, then they would cut their finger and press it on the parchment. Harry would nod at each of them, trying and failing to remember their names. Well, he had time, he would work on it. He had seen how Lord Stark always ate with at least one of his men, and he would do the same, maybe even two at once to go faster. Yes, that would be a good idea, plus his knights of course.

He saw that there were numerous children, too, living inside the walls of Harrenhall. There were at least 60 of them. Well, that was good; he would start with teaching these.

Tyrion had been right, there were technically around 50 servants and 400 men at arms, but there were also the wives of some of the men, and their children, and the children of the servants and the knights who lived at the castle. All in all, it was closer to 600 people.

And he was supposed to rule them. Hell, he was supposed to rule a lot more than just these, but he could start with these.

Two and a half hour later, Ser Albert was calling for the last serving girl, and there was no one left on his side of the room.

"Very well." Harry said, "now that everyone has signed the parchment, I have an announcement to make. I am not a Lord like other Lords. I have been granted some powers by the Gods, and use them to heal and to prosper. It is how I served the Crown, by healing one of Lord Stark's sons. The King is aware of my healing powers, but not of any other power. Tomorrow, and the following week, I shall use my powers to restore Harrenhall to it's former glory. I will work on different parts of the castle every day. I shall use my powers to make Harrenhall prosper and shine again as one of the most beautiful castles of the south."

People seemed shocked and disbelieving, even Ser Albert, but Harry knew they would not believe him until he actually did something.

"You are dismissed."

Every one bowed and left, except the knights, who would want to speak to him, Harry knew.

Harry stood up once the servants and most men at arms had left.

"Sers, I have tried to remember your names as I you told them, but I am afraid I cannot yet remember all of them. You will have to remind me until I do. Please, speak freely."

"My Lord, you said you had powers…" a young man said hesitantly. Harry grimaced. Of course, that was the first thing. Oh, well, he could make a small show. He looked around at the dirty room, with broken windows and discolored paintings, and thought "**reparo**" with as much intent as he could.

The men gasped, even Jon and Ghost seemed quite startled, which made Harry smile. Night had not moved an inch, even as the ground under him was thoroughly washed of all dirt and as the windows repaired themselves. The wolf was getting so used to magic Harry sometimes thought he would start flying on his own one of these days.

"Does this answer your question, Ser…?"

"Ser Ethan Darnt, My Lord. And yes, My Lord, it does. What is this power, My Lord?"

"It is sadly not a power that can be learned by everyone, and I do not know of any other Westerosi who has the ability. However, it is a power which, when not used for cleaning or showing off, is used for good."

The men laughed and the tension started to disappear.

Harry spent an hour with his men, then told them he had to retire, as his journey had tired him. Jon had made fast friends with the younger knights, and Harry was pleased. Aldric was waiting for him just beside the Hall's doors.

"If it pleases My Lord, I am to bring you to your chambers."

"Yes," Harry answered. He would ask Aldric to call him Harry in private, but he thought the man would react badly right now. He would maybe wait a few weeks.

Harry found his chambers strangely arranged, and noticed why quite soon. The Lady Whent had let her castle go to ruin, or near enough. She only used the first three floors of each building, leaving the others to rot away. Harry would have to fix that. The normal chambers of the Lord must have been somewhere else in the castle, but that place must have rotten away now, and so they had been moved here. Well, it could wait a few days.

"How did Lady Whent organize dinners?"

"My Lady was a very private woman, My Lord. She usually ate alone or with a confidante, when there was no company, at least."

"Well, this shall be over. I will eat in the Dining Hall. Lord Jon and Lord Tyrion will be at the high table, as well as the highest-ranking officers amongst the men, my knights, Ser Albert and the Maester, plus two men chosen amongst the men at arms."

"Men at arms, My Lord?" The servant asked, apparently startled.

"Yes, two men chosen at random, changing each night. I would know my guards."

"Very well, My Lord."

"Oh, and please summon Ser Albert to my chambers and ask him to bring maps of the castle."

Aldric bowed and went outside, probably to give Harry's orders. There were trained servants, he knew, whose sole purpose was to transmit orders from one person to the other, since most of them could not read or write. Aldric came back inside.

"Have some wine sent in, and some food too. Fruits, maybe. And please tell Jon and Tyrion that they may join me and Ser Albert as we see to the reparations needed for Harrenhall."

Aldric bowed and went outside again. Harry was looking outside his window at a half fallen tower and petting Night when Ser Albert knocked and entered.

"My Lord, I have brought the plans."

"Very well, you may put them here, on the table. Tell me, is there an intendant, or do you take care of the finances of the castle?"

"I take care of them, My Lord. But, as I told you, since Lady Whent's death, the finances are quite low."

Harry nodded.

"How much do I pay my men, after doubling the money? And the servants, and the total cost of simply paying and feeding these people?"

"Roughly around two hundred golden dragons a moon, My Lord."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Well, that's quite cheap. How many stags does that make?

"Well, it's something approaching 40 000 silver stags, My Lord.

"Very well."

Harry had created this little box a few days before, as he was thinking of how to check on his intendant's finances while not having to give him pouches of gold every two seconds.

"This box is enchanted. It takes money from somewhere safe where I placed my gold, and brings it to you." The box was made of wood with some metal, quite cheap and very normal looking. To make sure not to loose it Harry had engraved his words on the top, in the mouth of a growling direwolf. Harry opened the box to show Ser Albert that it was empty. "Now, if you say the right password and the number of coins you want, it will bring it to you. Your password is "**Lord Castellan**". Try it.

"**Lord Castellan**, 10 golden dragons." Ser Albert said, and he looked like a child at Halloween. Except Halloween didn't exist here… Well, the look on Ser Albert's face as he opened the box was quite priceless.

"You have no limit for the expenses of the castle, as long as they are needed expenses. However, please remember that I can always do this. **How much Lord Castellan?"** Harry asked after taking the dragons out and closing the box again. He opened the box and on a piece of parchment was written '10 golden dragons'.

"So you can know how much is taken out of the box."

"Yes. Do know that as long as you use the money for the good of the people, I will never refuse you."

"Am I the only one who can access this box?"

"It will be in your office, at least until I think of a better place, but if anyone requests access to it, you will grant it. Only one person can use one password. If I try to use the box with your password, it will not work. But I will give other passwords to other people. The Maester, once I have truly met him, so he can start building a very big library. I like books."

Ser Albert smiled.

"And the fact that every password is different allows you to know exactly how much each one has taken."

"Well, yes, but please do not let the fact disturb you, I will probably not check much anyway. I simply would rather have a failsafe I never use rather than an emergency and no failsafe."

"Yes, I understand perfectly. I think, other than the obvious magical character that I cannot grasp completely, that it is truly quite ingenious."

Harry smiled under the praise, even if he had stolen the idea from muggle corporation passwords.

"So, let's see these maps, shall we?" Harry said, turning away from the box.

The layout of the castle of Harrenhall was fairly simple. There was an outer wall, a Godswood, five main towers, so high even the smallest of them was half again the size of the highest tower of Winterfell. The curtain walls were so thick whole buildings were contained inside, with quarters for more men at arms than Harry would probably ever have. A stone bridge ten meters wide linked two of the towers. The great Hall was so big it could host an entire army. All in all, it was much too big for Harry to live in.

But, thankfully, Harry had other ideas about what to do with all that empty space. It was quite perfect, actually.

"It might sound like a strange question to you, but how many children between 6 and 12 would you say live on my lands?"

Ser Albert pondered the question.

"Roughly around three thousand, My Lord."

Well, that was more than Tyrion had believed, but it didn't change much of anything.

"Very well. So, how many men would you say we would need to guard this castle if it was uh… completely repaired."

"If we can feed them and pay them, two thousand men would not be too much, My Lord."

"Two thousand men. Would it be hard to find them? Supposing we offered to train them first?"

"Train them, My Lord?"

"Well, yes. We don't want stupid unhelpful guards, do we? We want good fighters able to protect the castle in an emergency. And we could also buy their equipment, if needed."

Ser Albert looked at him for a moment.

"If we provide all equipment, train them and pay them, there is no question that we can find the men quite easily."

"Perfect. Ah, Tyrion, Jon, you came."

"Took us long enough. The King offered you a monstrosity, Harry. I thought it seamed big from far away, try actually walking through the corridors," Jon answered as he came through the door after Tyrion.

Harry smirked.

"Oh, don't worry, I have great ideas to help people go up and down. You will love it." Harry said.

"So, these are the maps of the castle when it was built?" Tyrion asked.

"Yes, Lord Tyrion."

"Okay. So, Ser Albert, here is what I am going to do. As you may have gathered, I do not wish to show my powers to everyone who might be watching. But, obviously, if I do the repairs I want to do quickly, people will notice what I did, and questions will be asked. So, I will have to place an illusion that there are people working here to repair the castle.

My idea is this. Once the illusion is placed, it will look from the outside as if the castle is being repaired. From the inside, however, everyone will be able to see that it is already repaired. I can place the illusion in the entrance courtyard, so that deliveries and messengers do not see anything amiss. Do you think it might work?"

"I do not see why not, My Lord."

"Very well. So, initially I thought placing the illusion would be quite hard, because it has to change as the time passes. However, I have now realized, because of the hugeness of this castle, that from the outside no one can see anything but the five towers, so I have only to place illusions on the towers, and on the courtyard, and that will be done. It should not take me more than three hours. I will do it alone, as it probably will not be very interesting, since I won't be changing anything to the actual building. Jon, Tyrion, sorry, nothing much to see today. But if you want, while I'm out doing all the work, you can stay here and try to decide which building I should use for what. I would like to use as much space as possible. Do remember that I wish to house a school, and train my guards too." Harry paused, waiting for them to nod. "So, I will be off."

Instead of walking to the door as any sane person might, Harry walked to the window, opened it, took out his broom and jumped. He heard Ser Albert's cry of fright behind him but didn't turn to see. He turned himself invisible and flew away. Since the Hallows had merged, his magic had become very instinctive, relying only slightly on spells. He tried to use spells when he knew them, but it was just as effective to just send his intent and wait for the result. So, his idea was to place a ward-illusion, as the one that had covered Hogwarts once, in another universe. As long as you didn't enter a certain perimeter and you were a muggle the only thing you saw was a ruin. The perimeter ward existed because muggle parents sometimes needed to come to Hogwarts, and then they would be guided through the gates and the illusion would disappear. Harry didn't need to bother about muggles or wizards, since he was now quite sure he was the only wizard. If not, they would have noticed him. Or they would have had some kind of spell that would have stopped him from making gold. So the first thing he needed was to create a perimeter. That was fairly easy. He flew just outside he huge walls, and when he reached the main entrance courtyard, he flew along it's internal walls to make sure people coming there would still see the illusion. He let his magic trail after him to create a mental not-quite-circle. Once that was done, he concentrated on the image he wanted to give, the towers as they were now, nothing more, nothing less. After a while he saw the images superposing. Yes, he was almost there. Now, the trickiest part, which would have been so much harder if he had needed to do more than just the five towers and one courtyard, was the actual building with time thing. That was hard. Still, he pictured how he wanted the castle to look, and ways in between, people on great wooden constructions rebuilding the towers.

Harry was out of breath by the time he was finished, but quite happy with himself. His illusion was a dome on the castle, and no one would see anything of what he would be doing during the next few days. He was really excited to start his work. He grinned and came back inside his chambers through his window.

Jon and Tyrion were still there.

"Ah, Harry, here you are. Dinner will be served in half an hour. I told a servant to come and get us here." Tyrion said.

"Thank you. So, any progress?"

"We have played dice a lot," Jon said, "and not thought much on it. "

Harry grinned at him.

"Well, we do have half an hour."

Tyrion spoke "So, I was thinking, you will need to host your teachers, right? So I thought you might take one tower for the teachers, another for the classes, and, depending on how you see things, a third to host your students."

"Host the students?"

"Well, according to Ser Albert, it would probably be a lot easier than try to bring the children back and forth," Jon explained

"We could certainly offer the choice to the parents, and it's not like I don't have the room" Harry answered.

"Exactly. So, I would say that you should keep the Kingspyre Tower and the Widow's Tower for your uses, and give the Tower of Dread, the Wailing Tower and the Tower of Ghosts for your school." Tyrion listed.

"The only sure thing is that I will need to change the towers' names or any child will run screaming."

Tyrion laughed.

"I was thinking you could use the Tower of Ghosts for the teachers. It is the smallest Tower, and a bit apart from the rest, so that they can have some privacy when they are not teaching."

"I think you're right. I have no idea how many teachers I should have, but even the smallest tower can easily host a hundred lavish chambers. Yes. And then, since the Tower of Dread is larger, I can use it for classes. And the Wailing Tower can be used for housing the children. Yes, very well. I believe we are quite done for today. We should go to the dining hall, I think."

As they weren't quite able to find their way yet, they were directed by a servant who brought them to the doors. Most men were already seated at the long tables along the room. Harry thought it would have seemed airily like Hogwarts, if not for the six rows of tables instead of four. They walked towards the dais. Jon and Tyrion sat down, Jon on Harry's right and Tyrion on his other side. Harry sat at the chair in the middle, feeling weird that everybody was waiting for him to eat first. He would just have to get used to it.

The servants immediately started to bring their dinner. It was quite simple, but nice enough, some roasted meat, vegetables, soups, salads, and some very good wine. Harry was partial to the Harbor Gold, himself, but preferred not to drink much that night, since he would have much to do the next day.

He spoke to his knights and to the two men at arms who had joined him. He learned their names, and they spoke of their lives, one of them had a wife and three children already, the other one was younger and unmarried. It was a good night.

Harry woke up bright and early, as he always did, since Night licked his face as soon as the sun was too high for his liking. Harry groaned. He had seen, on the map, that there was a big Godswood, and decided to take Night there after breaking his fast.

Aldric must have heard him moving because he came inside.

"Good morning, My Lord."

"Morning, Aldric. I will take a bath, and then break my fast. If they are awake, have someone tell Jon and Tyrion that they may join me if they wish to."

The young man bowed and went outside. Harry stretched, watching the hearth where wood was still burning. Obviously someone must have come in the night to add wood. Harry wondered if he would ever get used to having servants. It wasn't as if he could simply throw them all out, and it would be expected by any guest anyway.

Tyrion and Jon had drunk more than him the day before. He returned from the Godswood without Night and found them both at his table, breaking their fast.

"Good Morning. I trust you slept well?"

"Yes. Now, can we see some real magic today?" Tyrion asked, with the enthusiasm of a child.

Harry laughed but nodded.

"Once you have finished eating. We will start in the Tower of Ghosts. You can try to find a name more pleasing than "Tower of teachers" while you finish."

They almost got lost on their way to the tower, but the fact that raising their head they could always see the tower helped a lot once outside.

Harry took out the Elder Wand, for he would need its strength. He needed to create real walls, just as he created gold, not simply transfigured it for a while. That took strength and concentration. The wand would provide both.

"You need to stay outside until I tell you otherwise," Harry said to his two friends. You can watch with the doors open, but please don't come in, it could be dangerous.

Once that was said, he started to work. He had thought of what he wanted to have exactly on the way there.

The first floor would be simple. One big, airy room, with a lot of light and a high ceiling, where the teachers could meat each other, speak together or whatever teachers did. They might speak of their students or something of the sort. But in the middle of the room he made an elevator. As it would run on magic it would probably last longer than the stones it was made of, but Harry still cut a staircase inside the wall. Technically it should have meant that the tower couldn't stand it's own weight, but when one was a wizard, such things hardly mattered. Harry simply strengthened the walls, and that was it. On the first floor Harry spent much time, finding out how much magic he should put for which intent. The second floor was much easier. He created three rooms, sorts of meeting rooms. The elevator was cylindrical so that it would fit any number of rooms he wished for. Once it arrived at a floor the elevator's walls would open from the middle, one up and one down. Then you could open whichever door you wanted, in this case one out of three, and enter the meeting room.

All floors from the third up would be similar in basic construction. He would create four chambers per floor. There would be four small servant rooms too, so that each teacher could have a servant. One of the easiest spells there were was the "Aguamenti" and variations therein. He put running water in each apartment but let them bare. He simply cut them into four spaces, a parlor, a bedroom, a study and a bathroom, with a heart to warm the rooms. Each apartment was quite large, as the tower was roughly 300 square meters per floor. After the first five floors Harry had learned how to do everything. Tyrion and Jon stayed a bit behind him each time, but he let them observe as he created new walls and tore others downs. He cleaned and strengthened everything, leaving the stones sparkling after his passage.

The sixth floor was the first broken one. There was no seventh floor anymore, except part of its wall, and the wooden floor was rotten because of rain and snow. Harry cleaned away all the dirt and even the plants that had grown in between stone blocks, then started to build the walls back up. This was actually much easier than he had thought it would be. He just had to copy what was bellow him and try to stay perpendicular to the ground. Easy peasy.

When he was at the ninth floor, he stopped.

"How many floors did we say it has?" He suddenly asked, looking over at Jon and Tyrion.

"Twelve. And this is the lowest tower." Jon answered.

Harry nodded and kept going.

When he reached twelve, he turned to his friends. It was strange, they were seemingly in a finished tower, brand new, except it had no top.

Harry built crenels all around, with the elevator in the middle and a small room for keeping warm and storing some things. He made sure the floor was completely waterproof and looked around happily.

"That was the fastest tower ever built, I believe" Tyrion said after a while.

"What time do you think it is?" Harry asked.

"Not late, an hour until midday, perhaps," Jon said.

"This is going much faster than I thought it would. However, we should go to the Crossroads Inn, your men will be there soon with our doubles, Tyrion."

Harry was right. After he appeared at the Inn they had flown over the day before, holding Jon and Tyrion's hands, leaving the wolves in the tower since they would not be gone long anyway, they only had to wait 20 minutes for the men to arrive. Harry took possession of the illusions and ordered their three men to wait for them there while they went behind the corner of the Inn. Behind said corner Real-Jon, Real-Tyrion and Real-Harry waited, ready to go back up on their mounts. They found Tyrion's men again and entered the Inn.

Tyrion paid for three rooms, one for him, one for Jon and Harry and one for the three men, for a week. He then asked for a meal to be sent up and told his men that him, Harry and Jon would spend their time drinking and playing cards waiting for the king. He gave them a golden dragon each and told them not to disturb them for the rest of the week. Plates should be sent up in Tyrion's room with wine for the three of them, but that was it. They would put the plates outside when they were finished. In the end they spent less than half an hour at the Inn before Harry apparated them away to Harrenhall. They landed outside the wards, so that they could check the Illusion.

"Wow, it really looks like nothing has changed", Jon said, looking at the smallest tower a bit awed again.

In the Courtyard, again, they saw nothing out of the ordinary. However, once they passed the second courtyard, the change was obvious. The old Tower of Ghosts looked completely new amongst its bent older sisters.

"So, still no idea for a name?" Harry asked, looking at the Tower.

"You know, I think the "Teachers' Tower" doesn't sound bad." Jon answered.

"I agree with Stark," Tyrion said.

"Well, until someone wiser than us renames it, so be it," Harry said. "You know, this is really going much better than I thought it would." Harry stopped as they were walking near a strange ruin. "What was that building?"

"I think it's an old Sept," Tyrion answered, looking at the shape of the ruin. "Yes, that would make sense. Most people here still worship the Old Gods, so near to the Isle of Faces, but they still would have a Sept, at least for guests."

"I've never seen a Sept, well except the small one in Winterfell Lord Stark has ordered built for his Lady wife. Let's see. **Reparo**!"

This time, Harry didn't have to imagine what he wanted, he only had to wait for the building to go back to how it was a long time ago. It was quite big and high too, when it wasn't a ruin.

They ate together in Harry's chambers. Afterwards Harry decided to take a break on magic. Instead, he asked a servant to bring him and his friends to the Maester's quarters.

Like almost everywhere else, it was damp and gloomy. Harry nodded to the servant that let them in and went to the Maester.

"Good day, My Lords" the man said. He was maybe forty years old, his hair just starting to grey.

"Good day, Maester. If you have some time, I would like to discuss my plans for Harrenhall with you."

The Maester nodded and gestured for them to sit down.

"I have seen what you have… done, this morning, My Lord. It is quite incredible."

Harry grinned at him.

"Thank you. So, uh, I plan to repair all of Harrenhall as I did the Tower of Ghosts this morning. It should not take me too long. But… Well, I will never have enough people to use all the parts of this castle. I will find more men to guard it, but that's not even enough. "

"Yes, My Lord, this is the largest fortress ever built in Westeros."

"Yes, quite. Also, I had an idea of trying to educate my people. I want the children to learn how to read and write, no matter their birth. I want to create some sort of school for the children to come to."

"A school, My Lord?" the Maester seemed intrigued.

"Yes. It will be open to any child between six and twelve on my lands. If the parents send their child in the morning and take them back in the afternoon, they will receive a free meal here. If they leave the child for an entire week, he will receive three free meals a day and be housed."

"Are you sure you have to money for such an endeavor, My Lord?"

"Yes, I am. Money is not the problem. Would you help me, Maester?"

"It seams very interesting, My Lord, yes, of course. I was sent to Harrenhall as some kind of punishment, do you know?"

"Punishment?" Tyrion asked.

"Well, maybe that's too strong a word. My teachers in Old Town didn't quite appreciate the fact that I wanted to change certain things. They sent me here because Lady Whent, for all that she let her castle go to ruin, was a very conservative woman and would not support my endeavors."

"Well, I'm not particularly conservative," Harry answered with a grin.

"So, what help do you need, My Lord? It seams to me you have everything quite under control."

"Well. First of all, I need to decide what to teach the children, and I need to find the teachers. Then I need to find a way to tell my people about it without creating a panic."

"My Lord, I believe that the people of this land are smart enough to understand the benefits for their children. I would say, open your school to everyone who wants to enter it. There are children abandoned every day because the parents don't have enough food or money to raise them. Offer your school as an option, at least these will take it. After a year I'm quite sure that you will have a great many children. Then, if you want, you can make your school mandatory."

Harry paused, thinking about it.

"Yes, I think that will be best. Now, as for the classes. I was thinking reading, writing, mathematics, history… and then I don't really know."

"Harry, could you not have the children taught what we were taught in Winterfell? Music and sowing for the girls, sword fighting for the boys?" Jon asked.

"I can't really have a land with only knights on it, can I?" Harry answered. "No, no learning how to fight at my school until you're twelve. However, it is not a bad idea to teach some trades too. Yes. We could have a system so that the best students, the cleverest ones, can stay and study some more after they reach 12. They can be healers, mathematicians, and inventors, whatever they wish to be. Now, we have to find teachers."

"I know a few men, friends of my youth, My Lord. They failed to become Maesters, but are quite versed in their favorite subjects. I believe they would make good teachers for the children."

"Send them a raven, offer them stay here and a very good pay. But other than the people of the Citadel, do you know where I could find others?"

"In the Free Cities, I believe, Harry," Tyrion said. "They have great mathematicians there, it's said."

"I don't know anything about the Free Cities."

"I have a few contacts there, My Lord, the late Lady Whent liked to buy silks from Braavos and Lys. I can write to them with your offer."

"Tell them that they will be tested upon arrival, but that if they do not qualify, they will be compensated for their travels here and back. I transformed the Tower of Ghosts so that it may host the Teachers. If any come and I'm not here, give him or her a guest room until I can be here, I want to speak to them before I hire them."

"Very well, My Lord."

"Also, I want to create a very large library. It will stand in the Wailing Tower, I believe, as well as the children's classes. I want you to start collecting as many books as you can, on any and all subjects. For this purpose, I left in Ser Albert's study an enchanted box. Touch it and say "**Old Town**" and any number of coins, and it will bring the coins to you. Ser Albert will explain if needed."

"Very well, My Lord, I shall start collecting books as soon as possible."

"Perfect. Well, then, Maester, good day. I still have a few buildings to repair."

They went to the Wailing Tower next. It was as large as the other one, about 300 square meters per floor. This tower was very poorly kept and the roof of the fourth floor was leaking water. Harry had learned from his trying to repair unrepairable things that morning that it was easier to simply vanish the thing and build it back up. He vanished the roof and the half melted stone all around him, then started to build up again. He went high enough to create three floors, then added the wooden flooring. Even though there were no books to yet put in, Harry created the shelves on which they would stand. He created wooden bookshelves on the round wall, and straight ones in the middle of the room. He added tables and chairs so that students could study, and did the same things in the two other floors.

The library done, although empty, he created the classrooms. He separated the floor in three, with an elevator and a round room around it in the center. He made each classroom with ann angled floor and stairs, so that the children in the back would be able to see as well as the children in front. Then he created desks and drawers, and blackboards for the teachers, with a dais. The rooms got bigger as you sat further away from the teacher, since they were triangles cut in a circle. Harry was quite happy with the end result. He put a heart in each classroom, because he didn't want to have to explain how exactly his rooms were always warm without it. For the next ten floors he simply copied what he had done.

"How many floors left?" Harry asked Tyrion, who had the plans in hand.

"We are on the sixteenth floor, and there should be 18 of them."

"What do I put here, do you think?" Harry asked.

"You should maybe add a few servant's quarters. If you need people to look after the children, this is the perfect place to house them." Tyrion answered.

Harry nodded and created two floors of servant's quarters.

By that time it was night, they were hungry and the diner would be served soon. They went back to their respective chambers to change, because they were covered with debris. The night supper went very well, Harry learning to know two other men at arms.

He fell asleep as soon as his head touched his pillow.

The next day, after going alone to the Inn, requesting food and drink, giving back the older plates and paying a tip, Harry went to the Tower of Dread with Jon, Night and Ghost. Tyrion was still sleeping.

"So, Ser Albert told me 2000 children live too far to come every day. There are 20 floors in this thing, so technically, I need 100 beds per floor."

What did you need to house children? Showers, toilets, beds. Okay. He could make bunk beds easily. How large was this tower? Very large, yes. So…

Harry started by making a closed room on the other side of the tower and separating it into showers and toilets. After that he created a small room for some adults to sleep with the children, with beds, desks and some space for each adult. Then he started making bunk beds and levitating them to see how they fit. When he had fifty of them, he looked, surprised. It actually didn't take that much room. The Tower was large enough that he could put the 50 beds around the room, bedhead along the round wall. When that was done he added a big wardrobe between each bed. The thing was cut in half so that one child could use one side of it and the other child the other side. It was quite nice. In the middle of the room he added some tables with chairs around them, some card games and carpets on the floor.

Making the same thing again was much quicker, since he just had to show his magic how it was one floor down, and will it to do it again. It had taken Harry one hour to make the first floor, but the 19 left took him only three more.

He realized that his school was, essentially, finished. He still needed to get books, supplies, teachers and students, but he had all the necessary buildings. Now he had a year to find the teachers and tell his future students. However, he could start with the children he already had.

For the next week, Harry spent his days repairing and renovating the whole Castle. Other than the two main towers, there were many buildings as big as any cathedral he had ever seen on his original world. He added running water everywhere. He had learned to do it from Hermione when they were on the run from Voldemort, but it was damn useful now. Even after using 3 of the towers and one hall for his school, the castle was still one of the biggest he had ever seen, and much bigger than he would ever have any use for. He spent a whole day in the kitchens making stasis boxes. It was quite hard and tiring, but extremely useful. The concept was simple. Once properly enchanted whatever you placed inside the box would keep eternally. Fruits, meet, vegetables, they would all stay as fresh as the moment they were placed there. Magic could not create food, but it could do other things to make sure the people were not starving. Harry was aware that, once, with his original wand and when his powers had not been multiplied by the Hallows, he would have been taxed after just one of these spells. Now he could do fifty of them and still laugh at the High Table in the evening.

"So, Harry, you are almost finished, now, aren't you?" Tyrion asked. Him and Jon were mostly watching him repair the castle, admiring the floating pieces of wall and appearing tapestries, but Jon had also spent a lot of time in the training courtyards and with the men at arms.

"Well, yes. I've finished the kitchens. I think tomorrow I will strengthen the outer walls. I have strengthened all the other buildings so much that I don't think dragon fire would make them even slightly warm, now. But I have only touched the inside of the walls, and the outer walls would be really hard to rebuild if they were destroyed. After that… Ser Albert, is there anything else?"

Jon and Tyrion had known about Harry's powers, even though they had not really imagined the scale of the repairs and the awe it created to watch as he did it. But every one else in the castle seemed hesitant around Harry, fearing him and being awed by him at the same time. But, as Harry had said when Tyrion had mentioned it. "They will have to get used to me anyway."

"I think everything is done, My Lord."

" Perfect. I think the King will arrive at the Crossroads Inn tomorrow night or maybe the day after. I will have to leave then. While I am gone I would like you to increase the guard to two thousand. Every man who works in Harrenhall will have to sign the scroll I gave you with his blood."

"My Lord, before you leave, I would have liked to mention the people, and ask if you will address them before you leave." Ser Gulliver Swann said. He was a balding knight of forty with a gruff appearance, but Harry liked him best amongst his knights. He thought of the people first.

"I cannot. As you know, I have used my arts to come here before anyone knew it. The King and his Master of Whispers would know it immediately if I held court and carried justice. Once I am in King's Landing my comings and goings will be much less looked at. I shall come here at least three days out of seven and hold my court. The spies might wonder if I ever sleep, but who cares?"

Tyrion laughed.

"I'm sure Varys is already crying over you, Harry. He has obviously spies in every castle, little birds, he calls them, and now he cannot know what is happening here."

"I don't know the man, I shall meet him in a few weeks, but I cannot help but smile as I imagine the reports he will get." Jon said.

"You've not told me much good of this man, Tyrion, but you're always badmouthing everybody anyway. Even Night, and he is my new sigil, you know. No badmouthing the Sigil."

Harry had made his banners in the morning, because it was much easier and a nice distraction from the food containers. They were emerald green with a wolf jumping as if he was hunting (or, as Tyrion had said, falling from somewhere). Harry had used Night as his model for the initial drawing, and even put the wolf's green eyes on the black wolf. Underneath it stood Harry's words. "The Last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

It looked at if Night was actually attacking death, it was really cool. Harry had been really proud of himself, at least until he heard Tyrion's comment about falling. So what if Night kept falling of everything he climbed on? And so what if he stumbled into guards, fell in the stairs, slipped on carpets… Harry stopped his train of thought. Yes, his wolf was a klutz. But he was a cute klutz, so Harry didn't care. Well, Night was less 'cute' and more 'deadly frightening' every day, but to Harry he was still his little Night (even though he would probably be taller than Harry one day).

"You can put the banners up a few days after I have left, Albert, by the way. It should be believable that I sent you some kind of drawing of the thing and that you had them made. This way, everyone can see Night."

Tyrion looked at him, very clearly thinking that Harry looked stupid making faces at his giant wolf. Well, Harry didn't care.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry I didn't publish this sooner. I've been utterly busy with university, I just took my last bachelor level exam ever (if I get it, *hoping*) so now I have time to correct this and publish. Since it's been a few months, I wrote you a short summary of what happened before so you don't have to read the previous chapter to get on with the story. I have a paper to give next week and some other stuff to take care of, but I should be able to publish Chapter 5 by the end of next week.**

**Enjoy!**

_Previously__:_

_Harry has been found by the Starks alongside the direwolves pups. After staying with them for a few weeks, he left to try to find wizards, but not before leaving Ned Stark with a way to call him in case of an emergency. He called when Bran fell, and Harry healed him, making friends with Tyrion Lannister and revealing Jon's Snow true parentage to Catelyn Stark. The King, because of an argument with Cersei and because he was drunk, made Harry Lord of Harrenhall, and Jon, who has been made a Stark, has become a Knight of Harrenhall and sworn himself to Harry. On the road back to King's Landing Harry left the main party with Tyrion and Jon and has been repairing Harrenhall with magic, keeping an illusion around it so no one will notice and people will think the fortress is being built back up during the span of a year._

**Chapter 4:**

"He has come back to my sight," said the voice in the dark. Leaf raised his eyebrow and looked at the Last Greenseer. They had all felt it, the arrival of the One That Will Come, and the Greenseer had seen him, too, in the great rock the humans called _Winterfell_. And then North, too, but so quickly, and East, then North again, then South.

"He is South, near the place where the Gods Still See."

There was only one such place South, where most of the Weirwoods had been torn down, Leaf remembered. The God's Eye, the island where all the trees had faces. Leaf had seen it, so long, long, long ago, when he was very little and there were many many greenfolk like him.

"He is on the path."

"How is he on the path if he goes in the wrong direction?" Leaf asked, not understanding.

"A path is not always straight, it can have detours, go around and back again, it is no matter. He is on the path."

"And the boy?"

"He will hear and come, when the time is right."

"When will that be?" Leaf asked, excitedly.

"When the time is right," was the answer.

* * *

_HarryPotterAndTheSevenKingdoms-HarryPotterAndTheSevenKingdoms-HarryPotterAndTheSevenKingdoms- HarryPotterAndTheSevenKingdoms_

* * *

The next days, after giving some last minute orders and finishing to strengthen the walls (he had put a ward that would stop any human from going over the wall, one way or the other; it meant that you couldn't stupidly fall off – well, Night could, and had, but he had spells to slow his fall down, so no harm done anyway – and no invader could simply climb the wall. Ravens could still fly in and out, and arrows if needed, but no human), Harry doubled the guards at the doors, and prepared for the arrival of new recruits. He had made some of the older guards training instructors; they would make sure the recruits were trained properly. The Maester had also started teaching reading and writing to the children, and to anyone who wanted to come to the classes when they had some time. Ser Albert had his orders to employ more servants to serve the future teachers and the children, and to find people who would look after the children who lived full time at the castle. He had said it would not be too hard to do.

Harry had also decided to lower the taxes progressively. His lands were some of the richest in the Seven Kingdom, a mix of good land, good weather and good situation, but Lady Whent had raised the taxes a great deal to pay for the few repairs she made. Harry knew that low taxes made for happy people, and happy people did not steal or kill each other to eat.

They went back to the Inn that night and slept in their small beds.

"I really miss the thing you call a shower," Jon said in the morning.

Harry had put one in his chambers, along with a bathtub the size of a pool, and Jon had enjoyed it a great deal.

"Well, you can use it again the next time we go to Harrenhall." Harry answered with a smile. He also would have liked a shower, but he would have to make do. He wasn't about to apparate there just for a shower…. No, he decided, he would feel extremely foolish if something went bad because he had wanted a shower.

"I feel bad about Arya and Bran, I have not thought of them in a week," Jon said suddenly.

"Well, we were quite busy. And your father would never have agreed to let us take them with us while we were travelling with Tyrion."

"He would have asked for us to bring guards, and Stark men are not as stupid as Lannister's."

Harry grinned. Jon and Tyrion had become true friends in the past weeks, but they still kept a friendly version of the Stark/Lannister feud.

"I hope my men are good, too. You did good with them, you know?"

When he was not watching Harry do his thing Jon had spent his time with the men, training with them and learning their names and their habits. He had quickly gained their respect and Harry was very pleased. Jon would make an excellent Lord Commander of Harrenhall. Harry had not created the post yet, he would wait until the "repairs" were officially finished and he could go live at Harrenhall.

"Thank you. Still, I think you have gained their respect, with your magic. They might even keep respecting you after they see you fight," Jon finished with a grin.

"You've spent too much time with Tyrion, he has rubbed off on you."

"Since I couldn't spend my week learning magic, I learned sneaky remarks."

"I call it wit," Tyrion said, entering.

"You're the only one." Harry answered.

"You're the one to talk. Anyway, I was in the hall, a messenger has arrived, the King will be here in an hour.

Harry groaned.

"I already hate the court, and I've not even been there yet."

"You won't be saying that when half the young ladies of the court bat their eyelashes at you." Tyrion answered.

"Me? Why me? Why not Jon? Jon is taller."

To Harry's dismay, even though he was a year younger (well, in appearance, but Harry was 24 and so Jon was actually 8 years younger than him) Jon was already taller and broader of chest than Harry would ever be. Especially since Harry didn't get older.

"You are Lord of Harrenhall. It's a bit dreary, or at least everyone thinks it is, but that does not matter much. Since you are young and you don't have close family, everyone will think you are malleable. You're nice, good looking, and would obviously not hurt a fly if you could help it. And since you're alone, if you marry and die, your wife' House will inherit everything."

"Well, I'm not going to marry anyone."

"What? Ever? Even if you fall in love?" Tyrion asked. They had never really spoken about girls before, but he had assumed Harry would want to marry, if not soon.

Harry blushed.

"In my world, we… uh… how do you say that…" Harry blushed again. "I really hope you don't judge me, but I would understand if you do, you've been raised that way. In my world, we don't think that a man has to marry a woman."

"You mean like you told me that being a bastard doesn't matter at all?" Jon asked.

Harry blushed again.

"Well, no. I mean, yes, the fact that your parents are married doesn't matter. But that's not what I mean. We don't think that… uh… a woman should necessarily go with a man or a man should necessarily go with a woman." Harry finished, and his face was now as red as a tomato.

Tyrion suddenly laughed.

"You mean that a man can marry another man?" he asked.

"Well, yes, and a woman can marry another woman, if they wish to. It's not uncommon at all."

"But…" sputtered Jon, blushing now "how do they have children?"

Tyrion was now laughing so much wine was coming out of his nose.

"They adopt orphans, most of the time, or one of them makes a baby with someone else, and they raise it as their own. I knew a couple of men who had two children, with two different women, and raised them as heirs together, one was heir of one, the other heir to the other father."

"So…" Jon started, "you like… men?"

\- "Yes. Do you… hate me now?" Harry asked, suddenly afraid. Jon was his best friend here, and he didn't want to loose him for anything.

"I… don't know. I've been raised to think it wrong, but I don't think you're wrong, I think you're a wonderful person, and from what I've heard of your world, it seams like a great place. I… No, Harry, I don't hate you."

Tyrion had become serious again.

"Great. I don't hate you either, Harry, for the record. I am the greatest whoremonger in the Seven Kingdoms, I have seen a lot worse than two men together."

Harry grinned at them, happy again now, even though the King and his suite were arriving. His friends knew about him and weren't disgusted! He had feared that he would have to keep this secret forever, since he had appeared in a world where such things were never spoken of. But here he was, with friends that really knew and accepted him.

Tyrion paid for the rooms, because, as he said, he didn't see why his Lord Father should benefit from Harry's wealth. Harry let him because it might look strange if he was the one paying. You never knew who was watching you. With the Lords and Ladies arriving, the Inn would be quite cramped and reserved for highest Lords. Harry had decided to sleep in his tent. Jon would probably sleep with Bran, because it would seem very strange if he slept with Harry in what appeared like a tiny tent. The fact that it was much bigger on the inside would seem quite peculiar for anyone who didn't know of Harry's powers.

They met the King at the doors, as was proper courtesy. Lord Stark was happy to see Harry and Jon, and Jaime Lannister greeted Tyrion warmly. Harry dined with the Starks, Arya talking of what she had seen on the road, this flower, that ruin, this strange road. When Bran asked them how their week had been, Jon and Harry answered that they had been quite bored. Lord Stark sent them an amused look that said that he had guessed they hadn't really stayed there, but he didn't ask. Harry was grateful, he didn't want to lie to him, but he couldn't very well tell the truth in a room full of ears who reported to who knew whom.

The King's journey had been peaceful, apparently, and Sansa spoke of her graceful prince who had taken her on walks in the forest. Sansa and Arya had also ridden two days with the Queen and Myrcella and Tommen inside the Royal Carriage. Sansa had loved it, Arya had to be glared at not to say what she thought of time spent that way, but all in all, it was a nice dinner. A few meters from them the King drank a lot and had an argument with his Queen, but for once they didn't have to pay much attention to it.

After dinner Lord Stark invited Harry and Jon to speak with him in the room he had taken. They both agreed and only then explained what they had done for the past week. Lord Stark said he would like to see Harrenhall and would try to take some time to go there. Harry offered to transport him and they agreed to do it once they were at the Red Keep.

The last two weeks of travel were spent as the first three, except that this time Harry spent much more time apparating to his lands and discovering them. He stayed mostly away from Harrenhall and invisible, with Jon, Ghost and Night by his side. He visited the villages, the farms, the small towns. Harry noted the problems he would have to work out when he officially took his seat. Although she had raised the taxes higher than would have been healthy for the population, Lady Whent had done other things right. She had placed good knights in her holdfasts, and had men at arms patrol the villages and the markets to protect the people. Harry had seen too many children begging in his towns than he cared for, and thieves too. He decided he would address that first. It would not be easy. These children were starving and, with the end of summer close by, they would most definitely die. Offering them shelter in the castle and three meals a day would be an offer to good to pass off, of course, but he needed to find the food to feed them. As soon as he arrived in King's Landing, he decided, he would employ people to create better farming tools and methods. The wooden instruments they used were as inefficient as you could get, and he was sure he had heard somewhere that you could farm more efficiently if you changed the crops grown in one area each year. There must have been studies on that somewhere, even in this backwards land.

Finally, one day, the road started to be livelier, with merchants and travellers coming and going, and the next day they arrived at Kings Landing.

Harry's first thought, as he rode on his stallion beside Jon, Bran and Arya, was that it reeked. The smell of urine, fecal matter, and rotting meat seamed everywhere in the street. The people seemed happy enough to greet them, but half of them looked like they were starving.

"It's a beautiful city," Jon said in a strained voice.

Harry laughed at him and winked, making the scents disappear from around the Stark children for a while – except Sansa, since she was riding with prince Joffrey again.

"Thank you, Harry," Jon said, breathing a lot better.

"Can you do that with my ears, too?" Arya asked, still frowning.

It was a horrible shamble of noise, true.

"Sorry, I wouldn't want someone to notice, and they might if you don't hear them as they shout a meter from you."

"It's alright, Harry, thank you anyway," Bran said. "Right, Arya?"

Arya grinned at Harry and nodded.

"So, where are you going to stay?" Arya asked to Harry. "Father said Bran, Sansa and I will stay in the Tower of the Hand. He said Jon would have to stay with you because he will be a Knight of Harrenhall someday, and sworn to you."

"The King sent letters to the Red Keep when he made me Lord of Harrenhall and told me to come to court. I will have to swear my oath in front of the Iron Throne to make it completely official. Afterwards I assume I will have to stay for a little while. Tyrion mentioned that the King will probably organize a tourney for Lord Stark, if he does I will stay here until then. I think I have to pay some kind of tribute to the King, and depending on the size of the tribute, I get some kind of room or another."

Harry smirked. Tyrion had told him the amount of money each Lord paid, and Harry had decided to make his first stand and pay just a bit more than Tywin Lannister did. It was something like ten thousand dragons per moon, but that was nothing to Harry. And if it could fund the Crown, he was all for it. After all, it would be Lord Stark spending the money. Tyrion said the Crown was grossly in debt. Harry's ten thousand would not help much, but it would make a stand, at least

Harry had gone to Harrenhall the week before and requested to have ten guards sent to wait for him in Kings Landing. He had told them to act as though this was the first time they saw him. When he arrived they were waiting in the Red Keep's Courtyard. Harry was wearing his new colors, green and black, and Night was at his side, so it wasn't shocking that they would recognize him. Tyrion had told him to seek out someone named Littlefinger, or Lord Baelish, who was Master of Coins, but since Lord Stark had to go to a Small Council Meeting, he guessed that he would have to wait. He was led to his rooms by his men. He had been placed into small rooms, much too cramped for him and his men, even for Jon and him alone. Harry went there anyway and asked a servant to tell him when Lord Baelish was available for a meeting. He also gave a dragon to each of his men except two and told them to go to the city and do whatever they wanted. Two of them would have to be back in four hours to replace the two he had kept.

Once that was done and the guards stood at his door, he asked for some food and wine and waited with Jon for Lord Baelish.

An hour later the servant came back to bring him to the Master of Coins.

Lord Baelish was a small man, clever and sly, and far from trustworthy, to Harry's humble opinion, and from what Tyrion had told him.

"My Lord of Harrenhall," the man intoned.

"Lord Baelish," Harry answered, politely but without any false courtesy. He wasn't here to lick any shoes.

"Please, have a seat. Ah, and you must be Jon Stark. Please, sit. You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes," Harry answered after Jon had greeted the man. "I have heard that I must speak with you if I wish to change my accommodations within the Red Keep."

Baelish nodded.

"Yes, it is true. However, you must know that, although technically a free guest, to obtain a room bigger than you have you will have to… ah, make a show of courtesy, you understand."

"I do. I think ten thousand dragons a moon should cover it. What do you think, Jon?"

As Littlefinger's wine suddenly was on the floor instead of in his glass, where it had been just a second ago, Harry guessed that the man must agree the sum had enough… courtesy.

"Well, of course, ten thousand dragons would mean a lot to the treasury. But…"

Harry interrupted him by standing up.

"Perfect, then." He went to the door and opened it. Outside stood his two guards with a chest each. They carried the first one together, then the second one, then bowed and left with a "My Lords.".

Harry opened the chests with a polite smile.

"I would greatly appreciate a change of room, as the… ah, decoration of the one I have been assigned does not agree with me."

"Yes, Lord Potter, of course," Littlefinger said, his voice suddenly sweet as honey. "If you need anything else, do think of me."

"I will, thank you," Harry answered. "I will expect to have my rooms for as long as I stay… courteous, of course."

The Master of coins nodded.

"Yes, of course."

"Well, then, I think I will visit the Tower of the Hand now. Feel free to send a servant there to seek me out and show me to my chambers as soon as you are able."

Harry and Jon nodded to Littlefinger and left.

They were still laughing when they knocked on Ned's door.

"I'm bus… ah, Harry, Jon, enter, have a seat. Maybe the two of you can find a way to make Arya and Sansa stop fighting."

"Oh, I know a way," Harry said. When Ned sent him a hopeful look, he answered with a grin. "You have to send Arya to the Wall and Sansa to Sunspear."

Lord Stark sighed and sat with them.

"Actually, Father, Harry and me wanted to talk to you about Arya. " Jon said. Ned looked at them both.

"What is it?"

"A few weeks ago, on the road, we found Arya practicing sword fight with her friend Micah," Harry explained. "If Lannister men had found out, the boy would probably be dead. We convinced her to stop, but not for long. Lord Stark, I know that Arya cannot become a knight. But would it be so bad if she knew how to protect herself? If Ellia Martell had known how to fight, maybe she would still be alive, and her children too."

"A woman would never be able to overpower a man in a sword fight," Lord Stark said, but he didn't seem quite convinced himself.

"Oh, and have you never seen a smaller, thinner man beat a much bigger one?" Harry asked. "Maybe not at traditional sword fight, no, but there are other ways of fighting. In the East, I heard, they do not use long swords, but other weapons, and these can be taught to men and women both."

"Father, Arya will never be like Sansa, liking dolls and dresses and songs of love, just as Sansa hates the things Arya loves. I believe one of the biggest reasons Arya and Sansa fight so much is because Arya thinks she will never belong as her sister does, and at the same time hates that Sansa gets to do what she likes while she doesn't. Arya will learn fighting. But she will either learn with sticks fighting against a butcher's son, or with your blessing and learning how to truly defend herself." Jon finished with passion and kindness both.

"I… I think you're right," Lord Stark said finally. "Harry, you did not say it, but I heard it all the same. Maybe if she had learned to fight my sister might be alive too. Yes, I will find a teacher for Arya."

Harry nodded.

"By the way, will there truly be a tourney?" he asked then.

Lord Stark groaned, which was fairly uncharacteristic of him.

"Yes, damn Robert. Yes, there will be a tourney."

"Lord Stark, if I may, you seem a little tense… do you want me to bring you to Winterfell? I will come back here immediately and fetch you if any trouble should arise."

Ned looked at Harry, and then nodded with a smile.

"Yes. I will ask my guards not to disturb me for any reason, and the we shall go, if it suits you."

"Yes, no problem."

Lord Stark spoke to the captain of his guard then Harry grabbed his arm.

"It is not a pleasant sensation, and you might feel a bit sick for a minute after our arrival."

Ned Stark nodded with all the strength of the North on his features, as though he expected to be suddenly beaten up.

They appeared in Harry's room, which Lady Stark had promised to leave empty so that he could appear at any time. Lord Stark lost his footing but he was back up again much more quickly than Harry had ever seen for someone's first side along apparition.

"I will turn us invisible, Lord Stark, since it would seem quite strange if anyone were to see us."

Ned nodded and they excited the room. Harry placed a silencing spell around them too.

"We will still leave traces in the snow, so we must try to stay indoor. That or we could say Winterfell is haunted."

Lord Stark laughed, and Harry saw that he appeared much better now that he was back where he belonged.

They found Lady Stark in her bedroom, writing a letter. Harry spelled the guards asleep and knocked.

The Lady opened the door and looked startled at the sight of the sleeping guards and empty hallway. Harry extended his silencing spell to her so that she could hear them.

"My Lady, it is me, Harry Potter, accompanied by your Lord husband."

She jumped when she heard his voice, but was almost instantly calm again.

"When shall I come for you, Lord Stark?" Harry asked.

"If no one comes for me, in three hours. I cannot stay the night, sadly."

"Very well. My Lady, if you will invite us in, I will drop the invisibility spell and go."

She nodded and let them in, although she couldn't see them. Harry looked around to check that no one could see them and dropped his spell.

"My Lord, it is very good to see you again. You too, Harry, of course."

"Thank you, Lady Catlyn," Harry said, "But I don't want to intrude. Lord Stark, I will be here in three hours."

And Harry apparated back to the room he had just left.

"Package dropped," he commented drily.

An hour later someone knocked on the door. Harry went to open.

"Lord Potter, this servant says she has been sent by Lord Baelish to bring you to your chambers."

"I still have things to discuss with Lord Stark tonight. Jon, do you mind going there?"

"No problem. Let's go," Jon said to the servant. The room they were in was linked to other rooms, so it was not so very strange that Lord Stark was not there currently, but the more the door stayed open, the more it could be discovered that he was not there at all.

Harry was left alone for some time but Arya, Bran and Sansa came in a few minutes after Jon had left. Lord Stark had ordered the door barred to any but his children.

"Harry, where is Father? Jory said he was here?" Arya asked, looking around.

"I brought him to Winterfell for some time. Your Father was very tense and needed to relax. I will bring him back if anyone needs him."

"Oh…" Sansa said. "Will you bring us to Winterfell too?"

"Well, I will if you want, but not tonight. And I can't bring the three of you at the same time. Two is my limit, even with small people like you."

"You're not much taller than Sansa" Arya accused.

"Don't insult Harry, he is offering us a service that nobody else can offer," Sansa chastised.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Someone has to! You're…"

Harry winked at Bran and silenced them both with a spell. They could still speak, but no sound came out.

"Now, girls," Harry said. "I will release you from my spell after you have listened to what I have to say. You don't need to agree," he added at Arya's defiant look. "You just need to listen until the end."

After some time both girls nodded.

"You two are very different. You like different things, think differently, see things differently. That's the truth. But that doesn't mean that one of you is good, and one of you is bad. Difference is not a bad thing. If everyone was exactly the same, everything would be boring. Sansa, imagine for a second. You love to make yourself beautiful, to eat good things, see beautiful things and hear beautiful songs. That is what is expected of a Lady, it is true. But imagine that what was expected of a Lady was to be able to use a bow, ride horses and fight. Could you change yourself so that you would become what is expected?"

For once, Sansa thought about it. After a little while, she shook her head.

"No. And you would feel bad, because you would not be allowed to do what you like, and you hate riding and are not good at it. And then, imagine that your sister was great at fighting, with a bow and on a horse, too, and loved it. And she would tell you all the time to be better at it, and why don't you want to ride today, and come on, you need to practice fighting. How would you feel, then?"

Sansa was now looking at Arya, tears in her eyes.

"Arya. You are a woman in a world of men. I believe that women should have exactly the same rights as men, but for now that is not possible. In this world, everything you do is scrutinized, searched for weaknesses. Hating being a Lady is a weakness, Arya. It doesn't mean that you have to stop being yourself; it only means that you have to learn to put a mask on. I do not believe that you will ever grow to love being at court, or sowing or sing songs of love. But I do think that you can find things to like here. I heard somewhere that your Father has agreed to give you ah… needle lessons."

Arya's eyes widened, and she understood what he had meant.

"So, you are different, but you are who you are. Sansa, you should not try to change your sister. Arya, you may not like the things Sansa likes, but it doesn't give you a right to insult them or her. Okay, I'm going to release the spell, now."

The two girls stayed silent for a moment, then Sansa cleared her throat.

"Arya, I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that it was like that for you. I understand that you don't like the things I like, and I will try to be nicer."

"I don't like the things you do and I think they're stupid, but I won't say it."

Sansa laughed gently, for this was probably the best apology she would ever get from her sister.

"Very well. Now, Arya, you've not heard what I told you from me, okay?"

When Arya nodded vigorously, Harry smiled.

"I have to wait here for a while, and I have nothing to do." Harry complained.

"Sorry, Harry, Septa Mordane said we have to unpack our things into our rooms," Bran said.

Harry grinned at them.

"Well, if you want, I can unpack for you and then we might play a game?"

The three children nodded and went to Sansa's room first.

\- "You should hide needle before we come to your room," Harry whispered to Arya's ear while Sansa and Bran entered the elder's room.

Arya nodded and ran to her own room.

Harry made a show of moving his arms around, directing the clothes and objects to settle themselves on the shelves and in the pantry. It took him only a few minutes in each room, and they were done, all clothing perfectly clean now, perfectly tidy and completely crumple-free.

They played hide and seek until Jon came back, then he played with them.

After Harry had found Jon and as they were looking for the other three, Harry asked.

"So, how are our rooms?"

"Bigger than your tent," Jon answered.

"The inside or the outside?"

"The inside. They don't compare to… the other ones, but they're great. Lord Baelish has also kindly provided two servants.

Harry snorted.

"That man is… Bran, I see your feet."

Bran giggled and came out from behind his curtain.

After sometime Harry heard the bells of the Sept and apparated back to Winterfell, invisible again, to the hallway. He knocked on the door.

"Yes," he heard Catlyn's voice. She opened and, finding only an empty hallway, she gestured in.

Harry entered, waited until she had closed the door and was visible again.

"It is time to go back, My Love," Lord Stark said.

"Sansa, Arya and Bran send their hello. They asked if I could bring them here, I said it would have to wait for tomorrow."

"Yes, bring them tomorrow, Robb will be happy to see them. I'm afraid Rickon might not understand, and talk about it."

"Very well. Shall we, then, Lord Stark?"

Ned nodded and they left with a pop. They appeared in the room Harry had just left.

"How is Mother, Father?" Bran asked immediately.

"Very well. She misses you three very much. She awaits you tomorrow."

The three nodded vigorously.

"Harry, I must thank you, but I fear if I start I will never stop. Where are you and Jon staying?"

"Oh, we have apartments, Jon has seen them," Harry answered. "We shall retire, then, Lord Stark."

"Harry, call me Eddard, please. You're a true friend, and I fear I have precious few in this city.

"Very well, then, Eddard," Harry answered. He bowed and left, followed by Jon, their guards behind them.

"This place is a labyrinth. How do you remember where to go?"

"I paid attention when I followed the servant."

"It's really good I have you, I would get lost at every turn. I could never find my way in this maze."

They arrived fifteen minutes later, and Harry agreed with Jon that this was much better. There were five main rooms, including one for the guards where they could sleep and store their belongings. One was a big parlor with a table and seats to entertain, another was a study, and there were two big bedrooms, plus three smaller rooms for servants to sleep in.

The two servants Lord Baelish had probably paid in advance were waiting inside.

"Ah, yes. What are your names?"

"I am Lara, My Lord," the blonde said.

"And I am Sally, My Lord", said the brunette.

"Well, Lara, Sally, you can work for me, but if you do, you will have to sign something. It is an oath I ask out of all my servants. If you agree, I will double your wagers."

"Of course, My Lord," they both said. Harry smiled and went to fetch the paper he had made the day before. It was linked to the one in Harrenhall, and once signed the blood would appear on the one in Harrenhall too. This one could be destroyed, it would not change anything. What mattered was that the two serving girls agreed to the oath.

"The oath you sign says _I swear to serve Harry Potter loyally until I tell him otherwise in person and never share his secrets with one who doesn't know them. _You must sign in blood. Do you agree to this?"

The girls looked at each other, then nodded. Harry took out his knife and gave it to the blonde.

"Prick your finger and press in under the letters."

The girl obeyed, then the other one.

"Perfect, then. How much money did you earn a moon?"

"Five silver stags, My Lord."

"Well, now it's ten each. Oh, by the way, everything said in this room is my secret." Harry gave them the money and ordered them to bring some food.

"Why did you take them?" Jon asked. "They are obviously working for Baelish."

"Yes. I would pay a lot of money to see his face when his two little spies report absolutely nothing. He will wonder what I must have paid them to turn their loyalty, they will wonder why they can't speak, but since that's obviously one of my secrets…"

"Oh, yes, since they signed the oath. That's why you said that what is said here is your secret."

"Yes. The oath doesn't say anything about your secrets, so you still must be careful."

After that Harry placed wards so that nobody from the outside could hear anything happening in the inside. Then he expanded the guard's room so that they would be more confortable. The two serving girls could not speak of it, and neither could the guards, so Harry could do whatever he wanted in his rooms.

The feast that night was bigger than anything Harry had ever seen. There was noise everywhere, people shouting across the tables. The seating was supposedly planed, alternating men and women, so Harry was seated between two women he did not know.

"So, you are the new Lord of Harrenhall," said the one on his left. She was old, but had a sharpness in her voice that reminded Harry of a Professor McGonagall who would have gone to Slytherin.

"Yes, My Lady, please, call me Harry. I'm afraid I don't have the pleasure of knowing your name."

"I am Lady Olenna Tyrell. You have met my idiotic son, I believe."

Harry, had, in fact, just met the Lord Tyrell on his way there.

"I do not know him as well as you do, so I will have to refer to your judgment until I can create one for myself." Harry answered with a polite smile. "But certainly, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"So, I hear Robert made you Lord on a drunken whim."

Harry liked the woman more and more.

"To be accurate, I would say it was more of a case of trying to annoy her Grace."

The woman looked at him, assessing.

"You do not seem particularly frazzled by the fact."

"Well, it is the truth, there is no sense in getting worked up about it. I had certainly not thought of becoming a Lord, but it happened, and I will try to make the best of it."

"The best of it? Spending your money on rooms in the Red Keep?"

Harry smirked.

"News do travel fast, don't they? I'm always quite fascinated by such occurrences. But, come, my Lady," Harry said more seriously, "you certainly must know that to be taken seriously a man has to respect the, ah… proper courtesies, I believe Lord Baelish called it."

The lady laughed, clearly amused.

"So, what do you mean to do with your new Lordship, Harry?"

"Well, if I must do one thing, it is improve the living of my people. "

Lady Olenna's eyes sharpened, scrutinizing him.

"You know, I strangely do believe that it is what you want."

"A fool would answer that it must surely be the goal of most Lords. As I try to always be as foolish as possible, I shall stick with that."

The woman smiled again.

"So, have you met my granddaughter, Marjory?" the Lady asked, gesturing to the woman on Harry's right. Harry turned and realized that she had probably been listening to the whole conversation. He smiled at her pleasantly.

"My Lady, if you share half the wit of your grandmother, it is an honor to meet you."

She blushed prettily, but Harry had been trained to fight death eaters who used occlumency to hide their real feelings. He tried to never use legillimency, and he wasn't really good at it anyway, but he always caught the general mood of a person. This flower might appear pretty and mindless, but she was far from it.

"My Lord, it is I who is honored. Did you know that the King will host a tourney in the Honor of the Lord Hand?"

"Oh, yes, I have heard," Harry answered. He gave her a pleasant smile. "I'm sure Lord Stark is very pleased."

On his left, Lady Olenna gave a little laugh, that said that she knew as well as he did that Ned Stark hated the idea of the tourney.

"I will certainly be there. Do you intend to participate?"

Harry had frankly not even thought of it. He smiled.

"I'm afraid I would sooner loose both my arms than win, even if I fought with a sword against an unarmed squire. And since I do like my arms where they are, I shall not. I hope I'm not disappointing you."

"There are not many men who would undermine themselves thus," the Lady Olenna pointed. "It is either very foolish, if it is true, or it is very clever, if it isn't."

"I did say I try to be as foolish as I can," Harry answered pleasantly. "But you might consider that some men can protect themselves quite well without the use of a sword. Since I see no need to compensate for any…ah… lacking on my part, I don't have to get the biggest sword."

Lady Olenna laughed again. Lady Marjory had a very good control over her features, but the slight brightness in her eyes indicated the laughter she repressed, and meant she had understood his jape immediately.

"So, Lord Harry, have you been to your land yet?" Lady Marjory asked.

"I'm sure you know the answer as well as anyone in the Red Keep, My Lady. I intend to go after the tourney, and meet my people then."

"Oh, and have you planned anything yet to 'improve the quality of your people's lives'?" Lady Olenna asked, quoting him.

"I have sent some orders, yes. But changes have to be made softly. I am a new Lord, with a new name, a new House, even. I wouldn't like to scare my own people off so soon."

"And do you intend to make repairs to Harrenhall?" Lady Olenna asked. Harry noticed that the conversations around him had slowed, and he understood that everyone was waiting for his answer.

"Please, My Lady, you have to let a man keep a few secrets, else you will loose all interest in me and I will be forever deprived of your company."

"I would not inflict such sorrow to such a polite young man," the old woman answered.

"Oh, I'm quite certain a Lady such as you most definitely would, if my conversation were to loose its interest. So as not to fall into utter desolation, I shall endeavor to keep myself entertaining. Therefore, to keep the intriguing mystery of my life, please, tell me of yours. Is Highgarden as beautiful as the songs depict?"

"It is quite beautiful, My Lord," Margery answered. "Perhaps you might visit, one day. We have beautiful gardens and magnificent flowers that only grow there."

"My maternal aunt had a beautiful garden, too," Harry answered.

"Oh, do you have fond memories of it?" Marjory asked.

Harry smirked.

"I'm afraid I hated the place. Not so much the flowers as the woman who owned it, however. I'm sure I would love the gardens of your home, since I find your company charming."

Marjory laughed.

"How old are you, Harry?" Lady Olenna asked after a moment of silence.

"Seven and ten."

"It must be hard, so young, and no family to help you and counsel you."

"And none to embarrass me or hurt me either," Harry answered. "And I personally think being young offers me a different point of view over my affairs, a changeable mind."

"Changeable is not quite a quality. A man that can be swayed easily may never stay on a course long enough to finish anything." Lady Olenna answered.

"It depends on what can sway him. Better a man that never finishes anything than a man who only finishes bad things. I believe counsel must be heard, even if it is not pleasant, but not followed blindly either."

"You are certainly a very interesting young man, Harry. I had prepared myself to be seated near some upstart fool who would either brag all night about his new riches or be too shy to share a word with me. "

"I trust I am being a nice middle ground between the two," Harry answered, winking at the old lady shamelessly. She laughed again.

"So, I hear that you have taken with you the Stark bastard."

"Jon and I have become good friends, and I asked him if he would come with me to be a Knight of Harrenhall, yes."

"So you intend for him to be your squire?"

"My squire? Why would I ever need a squire? I am no knight myself. I must remind you, My Lady, that I have not been raised to be a Lord and command men. Jon has been taught alongside his brother Robb, who will be Lord of Winterfell and Protector or the North one day. I intend to make Jon a kind of… Commander of Harrenhall, I think the title will be. Or something of the sort."

"You would leave your men under the control of another?" the Lady appeared a bit dismayed by that.

"My Lady, I would rather not take control of something I have no idea how to control. Jon is my friend, and I shall trust him until the day he announces that he wants to quit my service. He is a bit young now, certainly, and so I will wait to name him Commander. But not too long."

The next day Harry presented himself in front of the king. He wore black breaches, an emerald leather coat and a long green cape with his sigil on it. His hair was still a bit too short for a Lord, but not by much. All in all, he looked fine. For the occasion Night was at his side as he walked from the gates of the Great Hall to the Iron Throne. Lords and Ladies watched him pass in silence. For once Night was calm, Harry had made sure he understood that this wasn't a day to do stupid things. The wolf seemed more magical every day, and Harry was thinking that Night was becoming his familiar. He didn't mind it, and it meant they would share the same lifespan, so it would mean that Night would be immortal, or at least would not die of age. Harry was quite happy with having an eternal companion, even if it was not a human. And the more magical, the cleverer the wolf got, and that was very useful. Harry knew that it was possible they would eventually share a mind bond. For now, however, he had to promise a whole mutton to the wolf for him to behave.

Harry knelt in front of the King and Night sat on his rear.

"Harry Potter, first of your name, I, Robert Baratheon, King of the Andals, the Roynar and the First Men, make you Lord of Harrenhall and all the lands attached. May you rule fairly in front of gods and men," The King said, for once not quite drunk.

Harry got up and took his sword out of its sheath.

"I, Harry Potter, first of my name, pledge in front of gods and men to serve my King loyally as Lord of Harrenhall."

Harry sheathed his blade again, walked to the king and kissed his ring.

"So mote it be." The King said, and the ceremony was over, Harry now officially a Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. The people in the Hall clapped and Harry bowed and joined the crowd. He spoke to people whose names he forgot almost instantly, even though he really was trying. He talked to Tyrion for a while, and Eddard too. After a while he went to get some fresh air on one of the balconies. He had decided not to hide his smoking habit anymore, since it didn't matter much, and he could always say it was an herb found on Skagos or something. A few minutes after lighting his cigarette, he noticed someone creeping up on him. He turned and greeted the man with a smile.

"Lord Varys," he said pleasantly.

"I am no Lord, Lord Potter."

"Is that so? Well, we all have to accept courtesies, I believe. Did you wish to talk with me?"

"I was curious to meet the new Lord of Harrenhall. If I may ask, what is this thing?"

"This is a cigarette. It is made of a plant named tobacco, and you inhale the smoke."

"I have never seen the like, and I have traveled a bit in my youth. Where does it come from?"

"It is of my own making, I'm afraid. I could provide you with some, if you so desire. It is quite relaxing, but I fear that once you start, it is rather hard to stop."

"Then I shall refrain from starting." They stayed silent for a few minutes, then Varys spoke again. "You are a mystery, Lord Potter, and I dislike mysteries. They tend to lead to surprises, and surprises to trouble."

Harry smiled.

"Ah, yes, now we see our true colors. Tyrion has spoken to me about you, but he didn't seem quite sure to whom your loyalty lay."

Instead of answering directly, Varys changed the subject.

"I have heard of your conversation with the Queen of Thorns."

"The queen of Thorns?" Harry asked.

"The Lady Olenna Tyrell." Varys explained.

"Ah, yes. Which part did you like?"

"I wondered about your words on… improving your people's lives? Would you tell we what it entails?"

"Oh, that?" Harry wondered if he should tell the truth or not. But for all his deceit and spies everywhere, he didn't think Varys a bad guy, exactly. In his mind, if the man was as powerful as Tyrion had said, he could have done much worse than keep the peace for so long. "I would start by not letting my people starve. In the long term, educate all men and women to at least be able to read and write, so that they may be able to improve their own lifestyles."

Varys looked at him, obviously wondering if he was telling the truth.

"Well, I must go back, a pleasure to meet you, My Lord."

"And you as well, Lord Varys."

Harry's stay in the Red Keep wasn't as boring as he had thought it would be. He talked a lot with Tyrion, stayed with Jon whenever he was not training, had fun with Bran and Arya, and even with Sansa sometimes too. Now he was waiting in his apartments with Jon for a man named Ellyro Coretti, who the Maester had found to be one of the teachers. The man came from Braavos, and had come with his Westerosi wife and their children to search for work as a teacher in Kings Landing. Sadly, as the economy wasn't quite what it had been, most people forwent such things as teaching their children letters to concentrate on other things. Lords taught their children such things, of course, but they all had a Maester to do it and preferred not to find someone else.

Harry's guards introduced the man into the room. His skin was not as pale as most westerosi, but he wore usual clothes. He was around thirty, but his eyes seemed older.

"My Lord," the man said, bowing.

"Ellyro Coretti, welcome. Please, take a seat." Harry said, gesturing to a chair at his table.

"Thank you, My Lord."

As a servant poured the man a drink, Harry gestured.

"This is Jon Stark, my friend. Jon, Ellyro Coretti. And I am Harry Potter. So, Mister Coretti, has my Maester explained to you what job it is that I need you for?"

"No, My Lord. Usually, I work for people who do not benefit from the service of a Maester and wish to educate their children, but…"

"But I do have a Maester, and no children. Yes, that is true. First, I would like to know about you, then I will tell you about the particulars of the work."

"Well, My Lord, I have studied in Old Town to become a Maester until I was 22. At that age I married my wife and left the citadel, since it requires its Maesters not to take wife or father children. I have since taught to children of people living in the city."

"I see. What is your preferred subject to teach?"

The question was a bit strange, since most people had only one teacher for every subject. But the man just looked a bit at Harry and answered.

"I enjoy teaching to young children, My Lord. I believe that the first things you learn will follow you for your whole life. So I think teaching to read and write is what I like most. I enjoy learning about history too, and am quite knowledgeable in the area."

"Very well. Since my Maester recommended you, I am already assured of your knowledge. You must understand that the post I offer you is very different from you usual work. I will understand if you are displeased by the idea."

The man's look was questioning. Harry continued.

"I wish to open a school, for all the children in my Lands. It will not be reserved to boys, or to certain people. There will most certainly be bastards, sons and daughters of prostitutes, and probably also former beggars and thieves." Harry watched the man. He was attentive, but didn't look dismayed by the idea, mostly intrigued. "You would have classes of twenty to fifty children, depending on how many students I get. You would only teach one subject, in your case reading and writing to the youngest children, if it pleases you. My final idea is to have all my people at least able to read and write. There will be more teachers than just you, of course. For the first few years your schedule will most definitely change often, as more children come to the school and more teachers are employed. However, if your teaching is acceptable, you will have a job for as long as you wish to work at my school."

"I have never heard of such an endeavor, My Lord, but I would be honored to be part of it. However, I have a wife and family, and I need to think of them…"

"All the teachers I will employ will be offered housing. Since you have a family, you can have apartments in the castle or a house built. Your wife and children will be welcome there also, of course. Your children may enter the school if it is your wish, or not, as you want. A servant will be provided to you, as well as an aide for teaching. As for payment, what is your usual salary for teaching to children?"

"I am generally paid a stag for each hour of teaching, My Lord."

"Well, I will pay you a dragon a moon." To the man's shocked face, Harry added. "You will be teaching to a lot more children. So, do you accept the post?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Perfect. Ah, also, I will request a signed oath of you. Your wife and children over the age of six will have to sign it too. It simply says that you must not betray my secrets and you must serve me loyally until you decide to stop and tell me so."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Perfect. You will have to make the journey to Harrenhall on your own, I'm afraid I need stay in King's Landing a few more weeks. You can sign the oath upon your arrival. Harrenhall is under repairs at this time, so the school will not open officially until next year." The man appeared stressed by that, and Harry understood the look. "Do not worry, you shall be paid as if the school was in session. You shall prepare your classes; think on what you need to teach the children. Feel free to talk to my Castellan, Ser Albert, he will fulfill all your needs. Oh, and for the journey, here," Harry said, giving the man a bag of coins. "Pay for a good escort of sellswords, I have not had time to secure the roads of my domain yet."

The man bowed again and left.

"You've not said anything," Harry noted, turning to Jon.

"I didn't have anything to say, the man seemed to know his subject and you what you wanted. So, are you happy?"

"Well, that's one teacher. He will work great to unload the Maester's shoulders and teach the children for now, but I will need a lot more. If Albert is right, I should have over 2000 by pupils this time next year. And with winter approaching, I will probably have a lot more very soon. So, assuming a teacher teaches to fifty children, I have to get 40 teachers. And that would be if they worked all the time. I have to get at least three times that number." Harry paused. "Jon, I've just thought of something."

"What?"

"What about the children under the age of six? I can't have them at my school, but there are orphans, and beggars, and such."

"Well, yes, but if you can't have them at school, what can you do?"

"I can fund an orphanage. The money is not a problem, and the kids would be all right, then. And once they turn six, they come to my school."

Harry met three other teachers, in his time in Kings Landing. He also made a good friend of Margery Tyrell. Once she opened up a bit she was almost as witty as Tyrion. But she saw the world in a different light, she was hopeful, she had been happy. Harry discussed his idea of an orphanage with her, and she helped him plan for it. Apparently, she loved children and had done a lot or charity work in Highgarden.

One day a servant came with a message from Lady Olenna asking him for tea in the afternoon. He went, wondering what the woman wanted.

"My Lady," Harry greeted, bowing with a smile.

"Harry, sit," she answered, smiling too. "I need to speak with you."

"Yes?"

"You seem to like the company of my granddaughter."

For a second, Harry didn't see. Then he blinked, and he understood, and blushed.

"Certainly, a Tyrell would not marry me, My Lady. I have no illusion on it."

The old woman stared at him for a moment.

"You do not seem quite aware that, after the seven Great Houses, you posses the biggest and richest land in the Seven Kingdoms, Harry. The Lady Whent was an idiot, but you are not and I am certain you will prosper, if you haven't already."

"There are Lords with no Lady wife that are much nobler than me."

"Harry, I want my granddaughter to be happy. I do not believe marrying that fool Edmure Tully, twice her age, or little prince Tommen, half her age, would make her so. I have met you, spoken to you, spied on you, learned all I can about you, which is maybe not as much as I would like, and decided that you would make Margery happy."

"She does not love me."

"She likes you as a friend, and I know marriages that have started much worse than that."

Harry erected a silencing spell, just to make sure.

"My Lady, I must speak truly, because these matters are important and long lasting. I do not like the company of women."

The woman looked at him, apparently surprised but not shocked.

"Well, at least that explains why you didn't blink twice when she uncovered her breast on purpose two days ago."

Harry laughed.

"I wish for Margery to find love and happiness with a loving husband, because she is my friend. As I will very obviously not marry for love, here is what I say. Margery is sixteen. I imagine that your willingness to marry her to me now has to do with her father's pushing, and you worrying she might not find a husband if she does not hurry to do so. Maybe you had planned to marry her to Joffrey, but that road seems barred. So, I promise you to marry her if, at twenty, she has not found another husband. I will do so, even if she is pregnant with a gigolo's bastard. She is my friend, and I would rather she not be my wife. But I would also prefer it if she didn't do an awful marriage because she feels she has no other choice."

The old Lady looked at Harry for a long time, wondering at him.

"I believe you will honor your word, Harry. I cannot say how much this is worth for me. I will tell her father what you have said, with some editing. I will also tell Margery, of course."

"As I said, she is a friend. So, My Lady, how have you been?"

Jon had wanted to compete in the Hand's Tourney, but as his father hated it, he had finally declined to do so. They went and Harry placed bets against Tyrion, which was fun, especially since he couldn't really lose money. He lost most of the bets, but Tyrion told him afterwards that apparently winning when you know your adversary is not loosing is not much fun. And finally, after three other new teachers had been sent to Harrenhall, Harry and Jon departed the capital. Harry left each of the Starks with a way to reach him if they were ever in trouble and promised to come from time to time to bring them back and forth to Winterfell.

**Hope you liked this chapter! If I don't get buried (no, not under homework, I mean literally, because I might die from concentrating too much for my paper and get buried, or cremated, but that's another problem altogether XP) I'll see you guys next week for Chapter 5.**

**As always, if you saw mistakes in spelling, expressions that weren't quite right, something like that, please say so. English isn't my first language, and I'm always looking forward to improving my skills ^^**

**And if you just want to leave a review just to say how great an author I am, I also understand XD**

**Ferz**


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